Sea of Time
by silverbird6
Summary: In the sequel to Hurricane of Lightning, the Heroes of Olympus and Team Flash must face their most cunning villain yet. With our heroes separated by the fabric of time and space, will the Thinker be the end of the multiverse as we know it?
1. Check Your Baggage At the Door

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading the Sea of Time! This is the sequel to my previous Percy Jackson/Flash story** _ **Hurricane of Lightning**_ **. You are going to be really confused if you haven't read that one, so check it out if you haven't already. Let me get some housekeeping out of the way and we will get started:**

 **1\. This story contains spoilers for seasons 1-3 of the Flash. I will not be following the season 4 storyline, so you don't have to worry about any spoilers from that.**

 **2\. I don't own Percy Jackson or the Flash. Any plot points, characters, or objects referenced from the source material belongs to Rick Riordan, the CW, or DC comics. I only own my own plot.**

 **3\. As usual, I am going to try to keep author's notes short and sweet to avoid breaking up the story too much. In case you don't remember, the average time between updates is one week.**

 **4\. This story, I'm going to cycle in some different POV's (in addition to Barry and Percy). If you have any requests, feel free to let me know, but do so early on as I write rough drafts far in advance of publishing them.**

 **5\. These first two chapters are from Percy's earth. I wanted to explore how he was affected by the events of the last story and how Percy's oath impacts not only his friends, but someone whose fatal flaw is personal loyalty. But I'm not going to drag it out either, just add enough to show that it's there, then back off and get on with the story. Barry's struggles will come more from the events of the television show, from the end of seasons 2 and 3. I will make sure to touch on that in later chapters. Also, if you will allow me to step on my soapbox real quick, one of the qualms I have with the Heroes of Olympus (though don't get me wrong, I absolutely love that series) is that the effects of the character's experiences don't really seem to stick. I think this is probably the nature of writing for a middle school/high school audience, but it has always bothered me. I am positive that almost every single demigod has some form of PTSD or anxiety from what they have been through. This especially is irking when it comes to the main characters. I feel like it is really important to write characters who are inherently flawed (which Rick does really well), but also show that they are a bit chipped and cracked. They can't just walk off battles or time spent in Tartarus, because that just isn't the way life works. The most inspiring characters are the ones who pull themselves out of the dust, glue themselves back to together, and are stronger for it. That being said, I am not an expert on PTSD, so the way it manifests in these characters should not be generalized to all who suffer from PTSD. Okay, I'm done now. Thanks for indulging me.**

 **6\. This story is going to be rated T instead of the K+ rating Hurricane of Lightning has. Though the majority of the story (in my opinion) could be rated K+, I want to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to psychological trauma, canon-typical violence, and some very mild language. There will still be plenty of humor in this story though, so don't let the rating scare you off.**

 **That's it for now. Thanks for reading and feel free to review, I love hearing what you all think of the story. Enjoy!**

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The sun was setting over the Long Island Sound, waves gently lapping the shoreline. Birds called back and forth, their songs dying off as the light disappeared. When darkness fell, the ocean felt deeper, something to be feared, like the legends of old. The unpredictable sea that Neptune reigned over, claiming legionnaires and praetors alike. But when the light hit the water again as the sun rose, the sea would be Poseidon's once more. Though ownership of most of the planet's surface never actually changed, its personalities were perfectly divided between the god's two aspects. The sea, never changing and yet always changing. The same could be said for the son of the sea.

Percy had taken to sitting by the water every day to watch the sun rise and fall above the Long Island Sound. A constant until the end of the world. The sun would always set in the west and rise again in the east. It grounded him, especially on his harder days. The years of war and conflict were starting to take a toll on the demigod. Time continued to flow past him, fluid and steady quantitatively, but when measured in moments it hastened then dragged. Annabeth had rolled her eyes when Percy said that, proceeding to explain the international time zones and daylight savings time. Science firmly said time was steady. Percy knew better. Because how could you trust time, when time itself can bend and shift, molding itself to one earth and not another?

Yes, he said _one_ earth. No, he was not crazy or hallucinating. Although there were some days Camp Half Blood felt like an asylum, particularly when they set up the obstacle course. The theory of the multiverse (which was apparently a thing...not that anyone other than Annabeth and Barry's geek squad knew about it) was oh so very true. He had crossed over unintentionally, made some new friends, fought a dark speedster with self esteem issues, and came back once his aunt, the goddess of the hearth, had closed the breaches. And then he was banned on pain of death (and a very painful death as well) to never speak of his experiences. Which was easier said than done when your girlfriend was Annabeth Chase.

But he had returned, recovered from the brink of death, then by some miracle, finished out his senior year of high school with decent grades and gained admission to college in New Rome. The college was perfect: small with challenging coursework, lots of extracurricular opportunities, and 0% chance of his professor being a monster in disguise. He had just finished out his first year there, taking mostly general education courses that numbed his brain. Though they were much more interesting than mortal general education. Got to count your blessings when they escape from the tight grasp of the Olympians and hobble their way to you. College life was great, and being with Annabeth was even better. They were able to train together, study at the library, and just enjoy being on the same side of the country, without dealing with a prophecy or a war. Jason was there more often than not, and obviously Frank, Hazel, and Reyna were at Camp Jupiter full time. Nico popped by pretty often, and once Leo refurbished Festus, he and Calypso flew Piper up a few times for college visits. But now it was May, and the whole crew (minus Reyna, who was finishing out her last summer as praetor) were at Camp Half Blood. A whole year and a half since the multiverse expedition, about 2 years since the end of the Second Giant War. The Camp Jupiter crew would have to return to California, but they had a whole two weeks furlough to enjoy before they did. The group had of course asked more questions about his missing time, particularly when his panicked yelling during a nightmare about Greased Lighting himself woke Jason and Frank. But he stubbornly dodged their questions, telling half truths and internally cursing the gods of Olympus. They hadn't broached the topic again, and Percy hoped it would stay that way.

Percy sighed, splashing himself with the salty ocean water as the sun retreated back to the horizon. He stood, meandering back towards the camp along the coastline. They were having a campfire after dinner tonight, a celebration of the end of the school year and beginning of summer. Grinning at the thought of flaming marshmallows and Stoll brother pranks, he entered the mess hall. After grabbing a plate and making his sacrifices (with a little extra to Hestia, as he always did now), he made a beeline for the Poseidon table, where the rest his friends were waiting.

Though Chiron usually made all campers adhere to the "sit at the table of your godly parent" rule, he made an exception when the Camp Jupiter crew was here. It was surprisingly easy for their group to decide on the Poseidon table, as the only other option had the nasty habit of electrocuting anyone but Jason and Thalia. The Hades table might have worked, but even Nico didn't sit there anymore, ever since his powers mysteriously went awry during meal times. He had procured a doctor's note to sit at the Apollo table, and not even Chiron had decided it was worth arguing about. Tonight, the 7 plus Nico, Will, Calypso, and Thalia were gathered around Percy's table, laughing and throwing bits of food at each other. Life was good.

"Percy! Tell Leo that we absolutely do not need a flaming marshmallow catapult" Piper was attempting to restrain Leo from continuing to draw out his plans.

"Sorry, Pipes. I think that the whole camp would feel safer if we had some defense against the fearsome graham crackers". He glanced over Leo's shoulder, ignoring Piper's glare. "Why do you need Greek Fire?"

"How else am I going to light the catapult up?" Anticipating Percy's retort, Leo muttered, "Never mind. No, Leo, no greek fire for you. Why don't you just light it on fire yourself? In fact, let's get rid of _all_ the Greek Fire and throw Leo at the monsters instead!"

"That sounds like a great idea, Leo. You would scare them right off". Calypso laughed and pecked him on the cheek when Leo looked offended, giving Percy a quick wave. He waved back, then settled down on the bench next to Annabeth.

"I really think that this would cut wait times at least in half, creating a much more pleasant death experience". Annabeth had her laptop out and was gesturing at some complex designs. "If Leo can make the microchip, I can program it to detect a person using facial recognition and biometric markers. The computer can then find them in the database and direct them to the appropriate line based on their historical life information".

"How is the computer program going to know their life?" Nico was frowning at the Annabeth's laptop while Will attempted to force-feed him a salad.

"That's the easy part. So much of the 21st century is online, the computer can flag mortals who are going to be sent to the Fields of Asphodel. That takes care of the majority of the mortal traffic. Those for Elysium or the Fields of Punishment will obviously need to go through the judgement process..." Annabeth continued detailing her plan, occasionally with input from Nico or Hazel, who was sitting on her other side. Percy turned his attention to his left, where Jason, Thalia, and Frank were having a heated argument.

"Come on, man. American football can be played all over the world, regardless of climate. Hockey is dependant on the weather". Jason's arms were flailing about as he tried to make his point, almost hitting his sister. She whacked him in the shoulder, then crossed her arms in disgust. Frank glared steadily at Jason, retorting, "You _can_ play hockey anywhere in the world: it's called air conditioning".

"You guys are all missing the point. Why choose any of these so called sports with rules and regulations when you can watch mixed martial arts?" Thalia grinned smugly at them as if she had just proved their entire existence was a lie. "Nothing better than watching people beat each other up for sport".

"Isn't that what we do here?" Percy finally entered the conversation, ducking Jason's elbow and Thalia's glare. "If I want to watch someone get beat up, I just head down to the arena and watch Clarisse teach the new campers. No point in watching a tamer version of what we do on a daily basis".

"Then tell me, oh wise cousin, what is the best sport?" Thalia challenged.

"That's easy. Soccer. Most popular sport in the world by far, with 194 nations having a national team. Even North Korea has a soccer team. Fairly simple rules, lots of running, huge fan base...what?" Percy was baffled by the looks of shock he received from everyone at the table.

"You sound like Annabeth". Hazel blinked twice, as if trying to clear this hallucination that was an intelligent Percy Jackson.

"Don't get too impressed" Annabeth drawled, attention moving back to her computer. "He had to do a presentation on the evolution of an Olympic sport for our Ancient Greece in the Modern World course. Otherwise he would have said capture the flag".

Percy grinned, knocking his shoulder against Annabeth's. "She's not wrong, you know. Capture the flag is easily the most fun sport".

The conversations moved fluidly throughout dinner, participants switching off and new topics broached as smoothly as a baton in a relay race. Switching places at the table, eating off each others plates, using each other as footstools. Laughing, joking, catching up as only family does. The pavilion began to clear out as the younger campers headed out to the campfire, leaving their group of veterans to catch up. It couldn't get much better than this.

Of course, as if the universe was waiting for Percy to relax, Thalia turned to him. "So, Kelp Head, I heard that you gave camp a heart attack by disappearing again. Would have come to help but the Hunters have spent the last two years in Europe cleaning up Gaea's mess. Where did you end up this time?"

And just like that, the conversation died off. An awkward silence permeated the table, covert glances were exchanged between demigods and Percy tried not to hyperventilate. He cleared his throat, "Annabeth didn't tell you? Got kidnapped by a monster and was held for two weeks. It wanted my blood, thought it could get across the camp border that way. I lost a couple weeks of time, I think I must have hit my head or something. Next thing I knew Hestia was bringing me back to camp".

Thalia leaned her chair back on two legs, arms crossed once more. "Yeah, I heard that. Sounds like a load of crap to me". She held up a hand when Percy started to protest. "Give me some credit, Jackson. I've known you for six years now. You may not be able to lie well, but you are excellent at half truths. You did it when you bathed in the River Styx, when you were going to sneak onto our quest to rescue Annabeth and Artemis, to mortals after your disappearance. You are doing it now". Her voice softened incrementally as she leaned in closer to Percy. "Tell me the whole truth, Percy. We can only help if we know what's wrong".

The rest of the group looked uncomfortable but vaguely expectant. Hazel spoke first, seeming to grasp Thalia's train of thought.

"What happened to you, Percy? What was so bad that you can't even tell us?" Hazel gently inquired, swallowing nervously.

Percy laughed, a hollow thing without amusement. "I told you what happened. The details are unimportant".

Annabeth sighed, having gone through this conversation with Percy many times. Jason looked annoyed, almost disappointed. "Percy, you of all people know that the details are always important. On the most basic level, what if this monster figures out how to use your blood? What if this monster comes for one of us? Anything that can catch _you_ off guard, much less hold you for a month, is dangerous to both camps".

The rest of the group held their breath, waiting for Percy's response. He looked at the one person who he thought could understand this. His cousin returned his gaze, nodding his head incrementally. Nico would have his back, no matter what the rest of the groups reactions were. Annabeth too, though he knew she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to learn more about Percy's time away.

"The monster isn't a problem anymore. Hestia took care of that". Percy calmly looked them all in the eyes, giving them at least something they hadn't heard before. "You don't have to be concerned. It's over. That's all I _can_ say".

The group started to protest, their voices getting louder and louder as they tried to talk over each other, tried to talk sense into Percy, to get the whole story. It's like Thalia's inquiry set loose a whole year's worth of questions and demands for more information. Why didn't he trust them? This was a question of camp defense, and should be shared. Why do you have to be so stubborn, Jackson? Only Nico seemed to find the hidden meaning to Percy's words, mouthing "Styx" to Percy and seeming unsurprised by his affirmation. Will seemed to catch part of the interaction, and stopped pressuring Percy. The son of Apollo's patient was physically sound, and his boyfriend seemed to have reached an understanding with him. That was good enough for Will.

The voices grew louder, a clanging symphony that did little to calm Percy's nerves or growing headache. Like the sea changing from day to night, the son of Poseidon's temper grew short. When the noise grew too loud to bear, he finally snapped. Slamming his palms down on the table, he sent a small touch, a flick really, through the earth. The ground shuddered momentarily, the conversations stopping around him. His eyes grew more grey than green, their piercing glare landing on the entire group. "Enough. I've been patient with the questions, the side glances and the unbridled curiosity. That is all you are getting. I don't care if it's not enough, if it makes you think less of me. I. Can't. Tell. You".

He took a moment to reign in his temper, to pull back from the earth and remove the temptation. "I know that you were concerned. I know that this whole situation is annoyingly similar to the start of the Giant War. I know you care about me, and I care about you. You are my friends. I would want to know where you had been too. But these circumstances are different than our usual quests and prophecies. And the less you know, the better off you will be. So for your sake and mine, stop with the questions. Accept the answers I have given you because for now, that's all you're getting".

Percy stood up, rubbing his face and gathering his dishes. "I think I'll turn in early tonight. Enjoy the campfire. I'll see you all tomorrow".

And with that, Percy strode back to his cabin, letting his anger and frustration fade with each step. It wasn't their fault. He wasn't angry at them, not really. He was angry with the Olympians, that he had fought for the camps again and received orders to never speak of the multiverse for his troubles. Oh, thank you, hero of Olympus. Now shut your mouth and enjoy lying to your friends and family. Sighing, he realized he would need to apologize tomorrow morning.

He strode into his cabin, then promptly exited through the back. Percy could barely sleep on good nights, there was no way that he would be able to turn in now. So he went to the only place he could.

"I knew I would find you here". Annabeth's soft voice was barely audible over the crashing waves. "You can't seem to stay away these days".

"It's soothing. The water." Percy clarified, making room for Annabeth to sit next to him on the sand dune. "Not nearly as relaxing at night, but close enough". He shifted so that he was looking at her, regret filling his features. "I'm sorry for that, back there. I lost my temper".

"It was quite the show". Annabeth teased lightly, her head drifting down to his shoulder. They sat like that for a while, watching the waves roll in towards shore.

"You know that if I could tell you, I would?" Percy ventured hesitantly, hoping that this didn't count against his oath to never speak of the multiverse.

"Yeah, I got that. Finally caught it this time." She shifted slightly. "I trust you, Percy. And if you say that this monster isn't a problem anymore, I believe that. But you don't have the best track record of self preservation. And this experience, on top of everything else we have been through?" She paused for a moment, then barreled on ahead in typical Annabeth style. "I've heard about your nightmares. And some days you aren't all here. I know that's not exactly unusual after our time downstairs, but it's different. Because whatever is haunting you this time, we weren't together. How can I help you if I don't know what happened? I'm not frustrated with you, but with the big guys upstairs who apparently decided that we didn't need to know about your life anymore. That it was okay to _use_ you and then throw you out into the world like nothing ever happened, just drop you off at the campfire half dead".

The sky rumbled ominously, but Annabeth didn't seem concerned. Neither was Percy, really. After a trip to Tartarus, the temperamental beings upstairs didn't seem nearly as intimidating. Percy and Annabeth had faced true fear.

"I'm not happy with them either. But this is our life, the good, ugly, and downright hideous. And there is nothing we can do but continue on the best we can". Percy answered, thinking of Barry Allen, the man who became the Flash despite his mother's murder. The universe wasn't fair to him either, but he made the best of it and moved on, tried not to look back. Percy was doing the same, one slow step at a time.

So together, the heroes of Olympus, two time veterans, and survivors of Tartarus watched the waves in a silent vigil against the darkness. It may not be evident now, but Percy knew that the sun always rose again.


	2. Here We Go Again

**Okay, this is a monster of a chapter. I have been playing around with one of the events in this story for a while now and couldn't resist throwing it in (let's just say, creek incident part 2).**

 **This chapter is also dedicated to Paws Whovian, who diligently requested Soloangelo during the Hurricane of Lightning story. I'm not good with writing fluff, but I made an attempt at including much more Soloangelo in this chapter. So Paws Whovian, I hope that you enjoy!**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoy!**

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Nico woke up to a loud banging noise. Groaning, he fumbled for the nearest object, his shoe, and threw it at whatever demon was disturbing his sleep. "Go away".

"Rise and shine!" A cheery voice perpetrated Nico's sleepy haze, a voice he recognized well.

"Oh, it's you. Of course it is. Why don't you ever show up at like, noon? Not 6 am". Nico grumbled as he rolled out of bed, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders because if he had to get up, he was taking the covers with him. The knocking continued, shaking the door of the Hades Cabin.

"Come on Sleeping Beauty! I have coffee" the voice sang. Nico hesitated a second, then threw all dignity to the wind. He ran over to the door, wrenched it open, and instantly appropriated the steaming mug in Will's hand.

"You're welcome". The son of Apollo shut the door behind him, then started to clean up Nico's floor. It was inspection day, and though Nico didn't care in the slightest what grade his cabin earned, Will apparently did.

"Did you throw a shoe at me?" He asked, expectantly holding up the black sneaker sitting next to the door. Nico was too busy inhaling the glorious steaming beverage to respond. Will snorted and continued his grand quest to make the Hades cabin clean. Ducking around the small fountain in the corner Nico had added for communications, he unclasped the windows and allowed the annoyingly bright sunshine to stream into the cabin. Not that Nico could really complain when his boyfriend was cleaning his dirty socks off the floor.

"How did you get the coffee?" Nico inquired once he had finished the cup.

"Oh please. The Stoll brothers get injured enough to owe me everything they own _plus_ everything they've appropriated". Will wrinkled his nose as he threw away a chocolatey candy wrapper and a half eaten Happy Meal. "Believe it or not, there are times that they need medical attention and don't necessarily want Chiron to know". Nico's eyebrow raised. He didn't know Will was capable of that much sarcasm in one sentence. "So I patch them up, and they give me unlimited amounts of coffee".

"Did someone say coffee?" A sleepy voice came from the corner, making Will jump and Nico chuckle.

"Yeah but I already drained it. I thought you wouldn't be a coffee person, oh mighty praetor. Isn't that not allowed at Camp Jupiter?"

" 'm not praetor yet. Still have the summer transition period to get through. With Reyna. It's going to be a painful summer. But my first order of business as praetor will be changing the coffee policy". Hazel's head finally cleared her pile of blankets. She blushed a bit when she realized Will was there, but then smiled and waved. "Hey Will. Are you the bringer of the coffee?"

Will, unflappably bright and cheery, waved back at her. "Yeah, Hazel. You want a cup? I'm sure I could get some for our whole table. We'll need to drain it before breakfast, though. Just because Chiron suspects that we have a secret coffee source doesn't mean we should rub it in his face".

"Just set it up in here. If they don't want it, Nico and I will drink it all". Hazel mischievously grinned. "If you are willing to bring the coffee, I will make sure that the Hades cabin doesn't embarrass either of us during inspection".

"Sounds like a deal. Careful, I think there may be something living under Nico's bed". Will jested, ducking Nico's swat and dashing through the door.

"He's right, Nico. When you said you were renovating the cabin, I never thought you would go for the "dumpster" style". Hazel ducked into the bathroom to change, then reappeared with a broom and dustpan. She shoved them at Nico, then started picking up the floor. When he hesitated, she fixed him with her best schoolteacher glare. "Nico Di Angelo, your boyfriend and little sister are cleaning your room. And you've had coffee. You have no excuses, sweep the dang floor".

Nico grumbled, but started sweeping. No one wanted to get on Hazel's bad side, not even the son of Hades. She was terrifying for someone so small and sweet. They continued cleaning even after Will returned with a whole jug of coffee, finishing not a moment too soon. Annabeth knocked on the door just as Nico was throwing the last sock in the hamper. Will waved at Hazel, gave Nico a wink, and slipped out the window.

Annabeth was a bit shocked at the state of the room, but then thanked Hazel, made a note next to Will's name on her chart, and accepted the coffee bribe. Predictably, Percy stumbled in a few minutes later, grabbed a cup of coffee and stumbled back out. Thanks to the trusty demigod word of mouth, their entire table rotated through Nico's cabin before they arrived for breakfast.

The day continued like that. The group of veterans conversed comfortably and enjoyed the time together. There was no trace of the tension from the other night, other than a brief and rueful apology from Percy. The only indication that it had even happened was Thalia's occasional glares at Percy when she thought no one was looking. Percy was being Percy, joking and laughing and making a fool of himself. Only Annabeth and Nico could tell that he was still a little on edge. Once, when they were watching the girls race up the climbing wall, he glanced at Nico nervously. Nico again gave him a reassuring nod. He had understood the demigod's careful words last night. Something had happened while he was gone that someone, presumably the Olympians, didn't want him sharing. So he had sworn an oath on the Styx not to tell. Nico was surprised he hadn't noticed it earlier, a faint smell of pollution, power, and danger on Percy whenever he talked about his time away. Yes, power and danger have a smell. Nico wasn't sure if it was an underworld thing or if all demigods could smell it. Most campers couldn't recognize it, though Percy was usually able to pinpoint it fairly well.

The first week of their vacation went smoothly until they hosted a sparring tournament. Chiron had asked their group of veterans to demonstrate their skills to the camp newcomers and of course the campers had turned it into an event. Nico had been reluctant, but everyone else's competitive spirits had them excited. He only grudgingly participating after Hazel and Jason had cornered him about it. They harassed him until he finally agreed. Even Will just stood there, unhelpfully giving him a thumbs up from the side. Traitor.

The Stoll brothers ran the tournament (while simultaneously running the betting pool). The first match was Clarisse and Thalia. Yup, Nico could already tell this was a disaster.

To his never ending surprise, they made it most of the way through with only bruises, hurt pride, and a giant hole in the arena wall. The matchups were fairly even and resulted in some upsets. Nico gained some ground when he beat Jason, but then Hazel shocked everyone by beating Nico. He had to admit that it was kinda fun and stretched his abilities in ways he hadn't since the Giant War. The most anticipated duels of the afternoon were kept until last: Percy and Annabeth, Thalia and Jason, Percy and Thalia, and finally a Big Three faceoff (since the campers were still salty about losing capture the flag to them last year).

Thalia and Jason almost fried the entire stadium, but Thalia ended up winning when she threw Aegis at Jason's chest, then shot a paint arrow right in the middle of his forehead. Jason rubbed his forehead bashfully and joked about her being Captain America.

The Percy vs. Annabeth match ended predictably with a win for Annabeth. That girl was just too good at reading people, especially Percy. Though Nico had to admit he didn't think Percy went all out (particularly since his powers didn't make an appearance during the match). They were breathtaking to watch, so comfortable with each other and yet so dangerous at the same time. Moving fluidly between styles and strategies. They were both sweating and laughing when they were done, something that only spars against each other could bring out. Nico glanced furtively at Will, wondering if they would ever be that in sync.

The real trouble started when Thalia and Percy faced off. First of all, whose bright idea was that? The last time they spared, they nearly destroyed each other over capture the flag. Nico had expected the taunting, tight tempers and raging elements. What he hadn't expected was Percy's calm in the face of Thalia's rage. Nico could tell she was still frustrated over the other night and was trying extra hard to bait him. The son of Poseidon was scarily calm, letting her taunts fly over his head and not responding in kind, his eyes filled with a certain wariness and determination that Nico couldn't quite place. He had a bad feeling about this. So as soon as the match started, he slowly and quietly made his way back down towards the arena floor. He briefly heard Jason stating that Thalia wouldn't be using her bow, just her sword and Aegis. That made sense, the daughter of Zeus likely knew that archery wasn't a good weapon against Percy. He wouldn't allow her the space to maneuver. Nico stood against the wall behind Jason and Piper, letting the shadows wrap around him as he kept a wary eye on the match in front of him.

The fight was almost over before it began. Percy opted to begin on defense instead of offense, throwing his opponent off balance. Thalia's lunge was too strong, as she anticipated Percy meeting her in the middle, not hanging back and waiting for her strike. Taking advantage of her mistake, Percy switched to offense in a second. Faster than Nico could follow, he executed a crushing set of sword strikes and slashes unlike anything he had done today, alternating to Roman style anytime Thalia moved to offense, then switching back to Greek when she got comfortable defending against his Roman fighting. She would begin to reach for her father's element, but Percy would press even harder, forcing her into sword to sword combat. He finished with his signature flourish, disarming Thalia and putting his sword to her neck. He held it there for a couple seconds, the tension and fierce competitiveness draining out of him, then offered her his hand. Thalia slapped it away in frustration, pushing her hair out of her face. The Stoll brothers called the match, the crowd clapped politely but were a little disappointed. Because they were still looking for swords and fists, Nico and Jason were the only ones that caught the scent of ozone. The son of Jupiter started forward, a brief yell to Percy alerting the son of the seas that he may have officially won, but Thalia wasn't done yet.

The daughter of Zeus bellowed with rage, then called the skies down to her in a great crash of lightning. The bolt landed right next to Percy, who started and...ran away? Nico watched the son of Poseidon scramble backwards on his hands and knees, eyes wild, darting from side to side. He looked around him, setting himself in a defensive stance as if he didn't know where the threat was. Which was ridiculous because Thalia was _right there_ and she was pissed off.

"Come on, Kelp Head! We aren't done yet. I think the campers were hoping for a little more than a sword fight".

The crowd roared with delight, pounding their feet on the bleachers and calling for a fight. Only the older campers looked concerned, Annabeth, Clarisse, Will, and surprisingly Jason. They remembered that day at the creek, how out of hand this could get. Jason saw what Nico and probably Annabeth saw: that Thalia was _pissed_ and Percy was _wrong wrong wrong_. The son of Poseidon wasn't acting like himself, trying to back away from a fight, steel in his eyes that promised death if anyone followed him. Nico thought back through the fight, recognizing the way Percy ended it as quickly as possible and prevented the demigod from calling lightning at all costs. Something wasn't right here.

Percy seemed to realize that Thalia was standing in front of him and seemingly shook himself out of wherever he had been just then. But Nico knew better, could see in his eyes that Percy wasn't looking at Thalia right then. He looked at her and saw something else. The demigod straightened, gave Thalia his signature crooked smile, and spat three fateful words, "Bring it on".

She yelled defiantly, arms raised as she called down the power of the heavens. The skies grew dark, clouds obscuring the sun from sight. Nico tried not to think of that as an omen as Thalia wreathed her arm in lightning, then sent it towards Percy. But Percy wasn't there anymore. Quicker that Nico thought possible, the demigod had sidestepped the lightning, arms at his side. Annabeth was shouting at him, and Nico felt like doing the same. Why was he not calling water, or pulling out Riptide? There was murder in his eyes, but he wasn't fighting.

He easily dodged two more of Thalia's bolts, forcing her to take a breather before calling down more. That was when he made his move. The ground lurched underneath their feet, rippling in waves. An earthquake. It was unusual that Percy would go right for that power, but he was really far away from water, maybe too far away. Thalia tripped, and as she was standing up, the ground fastened around her ankles, locking her in place. What the Hades?

The demigod in question was now stalking closer to Thalia, like a lion hunting its prey. "Try to run now, speed demon". He sneered, starting to pull RIptide out from his pocket. Speed demon? Nico didn't think it was possible for him to get more confused than he was right now. And Annabeth looked the same way, so it wasn't something from Tartarus. This was something from his missing time.

"What the Hades, Jackson?" Thalia screeched, reaching towards the sky again. "I wasn't going to run! Not when I can do THIS!" She threw lightning at Percy once again, faster than she had before, at his _head_? What the Hades was wrong with these people? Nico liked Thalia, he really did (though he would _never_ admit it), but she had apparently left her head somewhere in Europe because she was _insane_. Nico started forward, not sure what he was going to do but he had to do _something_ because Percy wouldn't walk off something like that. Jason had the same idea and was running, but he wasn't going to make it in time, oh gods, the lightning reached Percy and...

Stopped? Nico had to amend his previous statement. Somehow, he was even more confused. Because Percy had just _trapped_ the lightning in a _ball of water_. The son of Poseidon was sweating, fiercely concentrating on the ball of water that he must have pulled from the ground. His earthquake had allowed him greater access, and he had pulled it up to _trap lightning_. When had Percy become that smart? Nico blamed Annabeth.

The rest of the camp sat there in silent awe at the two demigods displaying such power. Thalia's jaw was open, and she sat there shocked, whether at the fact that Percy caught lightning or that she essentially tried to kill him, Nico didn't care. But Percy, Percy was mad. A rage greater than any he had seen on the demigod, and Nico was there during the Battle of Manhattan. Before Nico could so much as shout, Percy had shoved the ball of water back at Thalia. She could handle the lightning, but the lightning and the water? She may not die but she would be seriously injured. Before he even realized it himself, Nico was moving, closer and closer to the ball of lightning. He didn't know if it would work, but he had to try. If he didn't, one of his friends would be almost dead and Nico would never forgive himself for not attempting this. He ignored Will's panicked shout, focusing solely on gathering the shadows around him. There weren't enough, so he pulled from the air around them, the ground underneath them, the fabric of the world itself because this was going to work, this _had to work._ Throwing himself in the path of the maelstrom, he opened himself up to the shadows as if he was going to shadow travel, then dodged the dark tendrils of the world pulling at him and closed it before the lightning reached him. Gasping for air, he turned around and saw his portal, his breach in the shadows open up and deposit Percy's ball of death into the ocean. The Long Island Sound churned and glowed, then settled with nothing more than a whisper. Like it had never been there at all.

Nico turned around. The rest of the camp was staring at him in awe, not fully comprehending what had just happened. Which was okay because Nico didn't really know himself. What he did know, was that he was tired. He started to hobble over to Will, who met him in the middle and helped him to the sidelines. The dork was fussing over him, complaining about his recklessness and how he shouldn't have exerted himself, but both of them knew he didn't really mean it. There was no other option. Jason ran over to Thalia along with Hazel, who removed all the remaining earth from her ankles. She stood up shakily, then started over to where Nico sat. Annabeth raced over to Percy, concern clouding her features. She walked up and put her arm on his shoulder, but he didn't acknowledge her at all. He just stared at the area where Thalia had been, confusion and regret playing over his face in waves. He started as the crowd murmured, eyes finally leaving the arena, darting over the campers and Nico before settling on Annabeth. She pulled him gently over to the sidelines, to join the rest of the crew. Thalia and Percy looked warily at each other, both apologizing with their eyes and yet defiantly waiting for the other to vocalize it first. Alright, enough was enough. Nico was surrounded by idiots. He looked at Chiron, who announced, "The tournament is over. Please exit the arena in an orderly fashion". Which of course the campers ignored but at least they left. Nico then turned the group on the sidelines. "What the Hades was that?"

"Sorry, I lost control of my temper". Percy muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. Frank nudged his shoulder, then handed him a bottle of water. He took it, drinking part of it and pouring the other half on a nasty looking burn mark on his shoulder. Maybe he hadn't completely dodged the lightning after all. Annabeth was looking at his shoulder strangely. Nico could practically see her mind whirling like gears, putting together pieces of a puzzle that he didn't quite get yet. Leo fidgeted uncomfortably, hands assembling some sort of metal contraption. Piper was nervously chewing her lip, gaze twitching between Percy and Thalia.

"Yeah you did. Since when can you trap lightning?" Will demanded, his "I'm a doctor and you messed with my patient" face on.

"Um.." Percy eloquently said, his face turning red and looking at Annabeth for help. Nico decided that they were all still idiots.

"Yeah, you goofed up Percy. But I was talking to Thalia". Nico shifted his accusing gaze towards the daughter of Zeus, who was wrapping her ankles with athletic tape.

"What do you mean?" She protested half-heartedly. She may be stubborn but she wasn't stupid.

"The fight was over. _Over_. And you started it up again. You agreed to the tournament, the fight was fair. Then you had to make it into the creek disaster, part 2". Annabeth nodded slowly, Thalia and Percy ducking their heads in shame. "Then you threw a damn kill shot at his face, not knowing that he could catch the lightning". He turned on Percy again, "And then you shot a kill shot right back at her, making _me_ intervene". Nico's glare softened a bit at Percy's expression. Walking up to the older demigod, he rested a hand on his shoulder. "What was it? Don't give me that look" Nico snapped when Percy looked at him with feigned confusion. "What triggered it? You were fine for all the rest of the matches".

Percy glanced at the sky and his friends cautiously, then stated, "The lightning".

Nico nodded and moved away, the pieces finally coming together. The rest of the group looked confused for a moment, then Jason, clever but stupid Jason, said, "I knew that this would affect us. You call this not our business?"

"Back off". Annabeth snapped, arm curving protectively in front of her boyfriend.

"Back off? Why should I when he is incapable of doing that himself? I just want to help, man". Jason was alternating between praetor mode and practically begging his friend for answers. "You have kept it from us for a whole year and a half. We deserve to know. We _need_ to know".

"He _can't_ you _idiots_!" Nico was done, so done with these people and their schist (yes, Hazel had told him about that). "He's practically screamed it last week in everything but words. He _can't_. Those jerks made him swear on the River Styx. So back off, now". Nico leveled his death glare on the rest of the group. "Yes, we deserve to know. But we won't until the idiots upstairs decide that we can".

The silence was almost stifling as everyone processed through this new information. Annabeth nodded her thanks at Nico, who gave her a stiff little nod back. Will sat back on his heels, whispering so softly that only Nico could hear, "PTSD. Gods, why didn't I see it sooner?"

Nico gave his boyfriend a little squeeze on the shoulder, "You couldn't have known. I've known Percy since I was 10, I can read him better than almost anyone. Plus, I have personal experience with this kind of thing". Like the mile long detours he took around the entrance to Tartarus when he was in the underworld, or the feeling of _no oxygen can't breathe_ every time he was enclosed. The dreams of Hazel with a sword stuck out her back, betrayed by the mist she made her own. Of Jason, cut down by Cupid because Nico refused to be honest. Reyna and Coach Hedge, sucked into the shadows forever when Nico just couldn't go on. Bianca dying over and over again. Percy, falling out of the doors of death dead, _dead_ because Nico couldn't reach him. Will, gods he had seen Will die thousands of times in his dreams, prompting the son of Hades to shadow travel to the window of the Apollo cabin, just to make sure he was still breathing. And Nico, well, he had been through a heck of a lot in his short life. But Percy had been through more. And Nico knew he dreamed, he could hear the screams as Percy woke himself up in the dead of night or got caught in a flashback. He could hear when Annabeth ran towards the Poseidon cabin because she couldn't find Percy and he was gone again. When Hazel isolated herself, terrified by her own mist, Jason lunging for his sword whenever a wolf howled, Frank anxiously fingering his bow, Thalia barreling to shield Jason because she couldn't lose him again. Piper hyperventilating when she lost her voice, Leo shutting himself in his workshop when the guilt was overwhelming, Calypso avoiding any Olympian contact for fear she would do something else she regrets, Hades, even Reyna and Clarisse were affected. All of them broken to pieces and glued back together. Strong together but crumbling alone. So Nico would be _damned_ it he was going to let Percy suffer alone because of a promise the Olympians forced on him, selfless idiot or not.

The group was stuttering apologies towards Percy, who waved them off with a hand. "Please, guys, it's not your fault. You didn't know".

"Sorry Kelp-Head. Got a little carried away, didn't mean to be a jerk". Thalia muttered, holding out her hand slowly. Percy took it after a moment's hesitation, "It's alright, Pinecone Face. We both got carried away".

Nico sighed and slumped against the wall of the arena, head resting on Will's shoulder. Did he really have to hold everyone's hands like they are in kindergarten? Is he _seriously_ the adult here? The rest of the crew sat down as well, chatting quietly while the children of the Greek big three caught their breath. Well, this vacation was off to a grand start.

As if the universe wanted to kick them while they were down, screams rose up from the mess hall. Nico started. All the other campers were down there for dinner. The screaming ended and they could hear something else, a strange whirring noise. Jason sniffed the air, then said, "Electrical".

Nico almost jumped as Percy extended Riptide behind him, face pale and knowing. "Nico?" He cautiously asked while standing up, "What exactly did you do to get rid of the...the water ball?"

Nico frowned, "I shadow traveled it. Had to draw on the ground, the" Nico waved his arms around him "air, atmosphere. It's hard to explain. There weren't enough shadows. Why?"

But Percy was already running down the hill towards the mess hall, Annabeth and the rest of the group behind him. Nico rolled his eyes as he and Will started down as well. "I hate camp".

"You love camp". Will jested, then his face tightened again as they tried to catch up to the others. Tried not to think about what could happen if they were too late to get to the campers.

They rounded the corner as a group, swords raised and bows drawn. Only to find every sword in the mess hall pointed at a pair of unassuming humans. Clarisse was in the front, leveling Mamer 2 at a guy with funky glasses and gauntlets. Next to him, a pale guy dressed like he was in an Indiana Jones movie was swallowing nervously as the one of the Stolls (Travis, Nico thought) leveled a celestial bronze shotgun at him. Was Travis carrying that around all day? Nico had given up on trying to figure out the Stoll brothers a long time ago.

But what really drew everyone's attention was the glowing blue circle whirring behind them, leading to seemingly nowhere and apparently where these guys came from.

"Good, you're here. Prissy, Annie". Clarisse sneered at the guy with the long hair, then turned to allow Percy and Annabeth through. Their group followed closely behind, weapons drawn. Nico chose to stay near the back, sliding silently around the side until he was level with the circle.

"Percy? That you, man?" The one with the glasses asked, hands still raised in the air. "Thank goodness! We've been trying to get through for weeks, months now. Didn't know if it would work honestly. And then we come out to this fabulous welcome party. Way to make a guy feel loved".

Annabeth practically growled, leaning forward with her dagger raised. But Percy gently pushed her back, moving so that he was directly in front of the glasses guy. Pointing to the other guy, Percy inquired, "Who's that?" Nico started. Percy wasn't surprised, by any of this.

"A friend. We have a lot to catch you up on. And apparently you have some stuff to catch us up on too. But right now, the bigger problem is that an evil samurai and his robot followers might have followed us through".

The son of Poseidon cursed like a horse and shoved the two men away from the gaping hole. "Why didn't you shut it behind you?"

"It took us this long to get it open. Who knows how long it would take us to get back? We don't want to get stuck on this cesspool for long". The pale man wrinkled his nose.

"Nice friend you got there. You know, just once I would like to see you guys without the threat of imminent death. Please tell me you took care of our previous problem. From what my friend said, I'm assuming he didn't stay in jail for long?"

Previous problem? Okay, Nico definitely needed some clarification from Percy. Especially since it looked like whatever Percy had sworn not to tell, he was free to talk about, at least in a roundabout way. Nico could no longer catch the scent of the Styx, and Percy looked like the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders.

"You think we would be here if we hadn't? And yeah, that slimy bastard slinked back to his home, then launched another assault on our earth. Barry took care of him, but not without a price. That's been a while ago for us". The glasses man looked nervous as the portal (because Nico was pretty sure it was a portal) ebbed and stuttered. "Looks like he's coming through. You might want to get the kids out of here".

"They are more trained than you are, buddy". Percy retorted, then thought about it. "Meta?"

"Not sure. Maybe. Maybe just someone really smart".

"And you thought that it would be a good idea to bring them into my camp?" Percy rubbed his face, then turned towards Annabeth. "Get everyone out. Come back with some veterans. Annabeth," He interrupted as she started to protest, "Trust me. Get everyone out. Only come back with mortal steel. Celestial Bronze isn't going to do any good here".

The guy Percy knew cracked his knuckles and grinned, "Heck yeah. Let's fight us some samurai".


	3. Seven Samurai Slayers

**Hey friends! A couple things real quick:**

 **1\. I know that the first episode of the Flash season 4 has dropped. Remember that this story is not following the season 4 storyline, just borrowing the anticipated big bad and samaroid idea from the trailer/comics. Just as a disclaimer: if there are any parallels between my story and season 4, they are not intentional, as I outlined the whole story about a month ago and am not watching season four in real time.**

 **2\. Points to anyone who catches the DC comics easter egg (other than the Samuraoids) or the Trials of Apollo character cameo. Leave your guesses in the reviews.**

 **3\. So just a general PSA: I accidently fell in love with protective Annabeth. I am now 300% convinced that most of the time, Percy is the cinnamon roll who tries (and fails) to talk his way out of fights while Annabeth stands against the wall behind him, twirling her knife and wearing a dangerous grin. That's all.**

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow, favorite, or review. Enjoy:**

* * *

Cisco knew this was a bad idea. He had told Julian that a month ago. He told Wally that a week ago. And he had told Joe this morning. Never go onto Percy's world unannounced. You were likely to get yourself killed.

But even Cisco would admit, he didn't have much of a choice. The stupid samurai guy with the stupid energy sword was throwing a wrench in their plans. Joe and Iris had asked, no, begged Cisco to get Barry out of the speed force. But Cisco knew that even if he was successful, he would never get Barry out without causing the same problem his friend prevented. No, Barry was stuck in the speed force and there was nothing Cisco could do. Joe had raged and then deflated, visiting Iris with the news only for her to refuse to believe it. She was amazingly resilient, focusing on her job and helping Team Flash. But her refusal to believe Barry might not come home would get her in trouble someday.

However, contrary to popular belief, Cisco was not giving up on Barry. The laws of the universe must be obeyed, but if there was anyone who could transcend those laws, it was Percy Jackson and the mysterious child goddess that helped them with Zoom. So with Julian, Wally, and occasionally Caitlin (because apparently she was just dropping in now, not that Cisco was complaining), he tried again and again to break through the dimensional barrier to Percy's earth. He logically knew that the way was sealed, that whatever protection the goddess placed on Percy's earth wouldn't just burn away with the death of Zoom. But it was Cisco's only hope, the only idea he could come up with. So he experimented, brainstormed, researched. He tried to vibe Percy to ask for his help, but either the barrier blocked all contact or Percy was just too far away. It didn't help that he had _nothing_ of Percy's to help him focus.

And when he just couldn't see the next step, had no ideas and his brain wasn't working, he would sit and tinker. Nothing fancy, just stuff. A new suit for Wally, a new Flash suit for if (when) Barry returned. A better power diffuser for Caitlin that minimized her powers and gave her control of her mind (which she gratefully accepted), a very "Indiana Jones" vest for Julian that was also bulletproof. A powerful stun rifle for Joe that would tranq an elephant or whatever powerful meta decided to show their face next. New gauntlets for Cisco, a beautiful energy pistol for Iris. A retractable sword for Percy using Cisco's experimental metal; depleted promethium mixed with titanium and vanadium. He couldn't figure out how to get it into a pen yet, but the whole sword retracted into the hilt. A bunch of random stuff like a super powerful vacuum cleaner that could get into the dusty corners of the cortex, cell phones with holographic keyboards for work on the go, a Harry Potter-esque quill that wrote down dictations, a mopping robot for the speed track, and new arm bracers for the Arrow (who he couldn't get ahold of, which was concerning to say the least). He should really patent and sell some of this stuff. He could probably be a millionaire by now.

But that wasn't important. Because they may be (barely) holding down the fort between Wally, Caitlin, and himself, but they needed Barry. Not just as the Flash, but as Barry Allen.

Then the samuraoids came. Yes, samuraoids. Yes he made up that name. Hold your applause, please. Their leader, Baron Katana (which Cisco did _not_ make up, thank you very much) stopped by to call the Flash out, then used his super awesome sword to blast them all back and pull a Houdini. The team redoubled their efforts to break into the speed force, but Cisco was still stuck on finding a way to Percy's Earth (Earth 12). He just _knew_ that was the only plausible option. But a week passed and they were no closer to either of their goals. So an army of robotic samurai, the samuraoids, attacked in full force, overwhelming Team Flash's defenses and causing Cisco to desperately open a breach. Joe was the one who suggested Cisco try Percy's world again, then lead some of the samuraoids there. Divide and conquer strategy, hopefully with some backup. Cisco didn't like this plan, and unabashedly let Joe know he wasn't happy. He hadn't been able to get through before and it was never a good idea to jump onto a random earth without a guide or previous contact.

He was trying the same variation he had tried 326 other times, but the barrier shivered and melted into alignment right as he prepared to close it and try something else. He hastily yelled the situation through the comms and made to go through. Julian, the stupid stubborn man, made it clear that he was going through too. He wanted to see some hellhounds. Lord, what was it with that man and animals?

So with no time to waste, Cisco grabbed Julian by the lapels and threw them both through, leaving their team to buy them time. They appeared in a...dining pavilion? There were about two hundred teenagers staring back at them, plates dropping and pulling out all sorts of weapons. Swords, spears (that were electric apparently, Cisco had to get his hands on those), bows and arrows, and one very shiny shotgun shoved at Julian's chest. Yup. Percy's earth was a fun place. Cisco still hadn't forgiven those jerks for singeing his hair.

"Hey guys!" Cisco chuckled nervously, "What's up?"

"Put your hands up punk". A beast of a woman was standing next to him, said electric spear in hand. Cisco put his hands up real quick. "Who the Hades are you?"

"Definitely on the right earth" Cisco muttered under his breath. "I'm Cisco Ramon, this is my...associate Julian. We come in peace. Take us to your leader". Yup, there is no way Cisco was letting that opportunity slide.

Unfortunately, the very scary woman with the spear pointed at his face didn't appreciate a good movie quote. The spear moved closer, oh gosh, to his beautiful hair. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't gut you like a pig?"

"Umm..." Cisco stuttered eloquently just as he saw Percy run around the corner, bright shiny sword in hand.

"Good, you're here. Prissy, Annie". Clarisse sneered at him menacingly, then turned to allow Percy and the girl, Annie, through. Cisco sighed in relief. They didn't have much time, those things would be following them through any second now. "Percy? That you, man?"

He launched into a brief but vague conversation with the demigod, dodging his...girlfriend's?... glares. The demigod acted as quickly and decisively as Cisco remembered, organizing his people and settling in for a fight.

"Here, Percy. I made this for you. Prototype metal, really strong. It's better than "mortal steel", whatever that is". Cisco handed the hilt to Percy, then pressed the release button. "I haven't figured out pen form yet, but this is okay for now I think".

The demigod grinned, testing out the balance of the sword. "This is more than okay. Thanks man".

"What are we fighting?" A man...kid...stepped from the shadows, scaring Cisco and Julian half to death. Percy just shrugged and gestured towards Cisco. The inventor responded, "An army of samurai robots lead by a man who may or may not have superpowers. Not sure yet, but either way, we are going to kick their tin butts".

The kid, who was terrifying by the way, rolled his eyes. Percy gestured to the wicked sword hanging from his belt. "Stygian iron will work?"

"Yup. Comes in handy for times like this".

"Stygian what?" Cisco was already confused and he had been here for 2 minutes. When Percy had been on their earth, he had explained his powers and abilities, but had been frustratingly vague about his camp and the Olympians. He gave Cisco roundabout answers, half truths, and more often than not just answered with his signature "because Poseidon". Apparently his sword was not the only special metal that worked on monsters. And his sword didn't work on robots. Interesting. He was going to need a sample.

Cisco was saved from trying to figure out what the heck was going on when the first samuraoid nearly decapitated him. Percy reacted faster, blocking the enemy's sword on his new one, then stabbing it in the chest. The bot deactivated, slumping over like a puppet with cut strings. "I love this sword! Look out for yourself there, Cisco".

Cisco nodded, then prepared himself. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the blonde that had been glaring at him earlier rejoin them with what looked like a sword made of bones. Had he mentioned these people were scary?

"You and I will take point, Cisco. If you're okay with that?" Cisco nodded his agreement as Percy continued. "Nico and Annabeth, we're going to let some past us. Each of you take a flank and cut them down. Place Cisco's friend in the back middle, assuming he can shoot?" The demigod raised an eyebrow at Julian, who scowled and flicked the safety off his energy rifle. "Good. When campers start coming back, Annabeth can organize them. That sound okay, Annabeth?"

The blonde nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. I will shift to center middle once we get reinforcements. You can then open up the middle and Julian can be the last line of defense. He should get up on the table for a better vantage point". Percy nodded in agreement, then turned to face the first wave of samuraoids.

"Looks like our distraction didn't keep them for long". Cisco grumbled, shooting energy through his gauntlets at one of the samuraoids. Percy was slashing with his sword like a maniac to his left, kicking or shoving some to Annabeth when he was starting to get overwhelmed. The girl whipped around with skill and finesse, turning them into scrap metal before Cisco could blink. Cisco had improved as Vibe since the last time they fought, but he found himself funneling more and more to the kid (Nico) to his right. Cisco's energy didn't do as much damage as swords, and he was pretty sure the kid was scaring even the robots. Dark and gloomy could handle himself.

Every once in awhile, he heard the discharge of the energy rifle behind him. But for the most part, Cisco was focused on the _shoot grab kick blast_ of battle. Not only that, but he had to keep a part of his mind focused on holding the breach open as the bots charged through. It felt like they were trampling his head with every step they took. He was vaguely aware of Percy yelling at him, "Open up the middle, we have reinforcements". He heard the crack of lightning and whipped around looking for Barry or Wally, but saw a girl wearing goth clothes and a silver tiara call lightning from the sky. He would have to ask Percy about her. A big dude in a purple t-shirt was using a bow to shoot the robots with deadly accuracy rivaling even the Green Arrow, a smaller girl with brown hair and constantly shifting eyes finishing off his kills with a small dagger. These people were _good_ , but their weaponry was pathetic. They obviously all used and practiced with those shiny weapons (that apparently wouldn't work on robots, another thing to ask Percy), and while they were skilled with the ones they were wielding, their balance was off and the weapons weren't exactly top of the line. They desperately needed an upgrade in "mortal steel" weaponry. Cisco would have to rectify this. If he survived, that is.

And that was an "if", because the waves of samuraoids just kept coming and Cisco had seen no sign of Baron Katana. Which meant that he probably hadn't been drawn away by Cisco and Julian, but was still attacking Central City. Crap.

"I don't think the Baron took the bait! I haven't seen him come through yet". Cisco yelled to Percy, who was currently executing a backwards flip over the top of a samuraoid, causing them to deactivate each other. "Hold on a second, Cisco. I can't hear you". He was surrounded, the programing in the robots recognizing that he was currently killing the most of them. Annabeth maneuvered so she was back to back with him, seemingly determined to prove the robots wrong, unleashing a blur of destruction on them.

"We don't have time for this" Cisco muttered, turning to the kid next to him instead. Standing back a couple feet to let the large, threatening girl he had met earlier take his place, he picked up a bunch of the discarded samuraoid swords from the wreckage. Throwing them to the back of the dining hall, he yelled, "Nico! The campers can use these swords!" The kid nodded, parrying a samuraoid's stab towards his eye with ease. "I'm going to go close the breach. I need your campers to finish off the rest that get through".

"I thought you didn't want to close the breach!" The kid made to grab his sleeve, but Cisco was already on the move. He tapped his ear comm, relieved to see it was still working. "Julian?"

"Yeah, I can hear you Cisco".

"Get down here. We are going to go back through. Baron Katana hasn't made an appearance yet and it is making me nervous".

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" The CSI jumped down from the table and met Cisco in the middle of the dining hall. Covering each other, they made their way to the breach.

"Do you have a better one?" Cisco snarked, using just the right angle to snap a samuraoid's head off with his energy beam. And kids said math wasn't practical. "Plus, I can't hold this thing open much longer. Let me clear a hole with Percy and then we can jump back through. We should take him with us, we need an advantage".

They made their way back to the breach, where Percy and Annabeth had left a ring of wreckage around them, and the intimidating woman was shaking a spear and ripping the samuraoids' heads off with her bare hands. She was also glowing red. Cisco wasn't sure what was up with that. His confusion seemed to be a common theme today.

"Percy, I need a hole! Help me out here, man!" Cisco screamed, finally drawing the demigod's attention. He tapped Annabeth on the shoulder, then cleared the way to the breach. "What's the plan?"

"Their leader is still on the other side. Let's make a hole, create some wiggle room for us to slip through".

Percy nodded, then made some sort of signal to the back of the mess hall. "Watch out. Need something blown up? Leo's your man".

Cisco jumped out of the way, then glanced at the back of the room where someone looking suspiciously like himself was loading a catapult with something green and glowing. Percy's eyes went a bit wider, then shooed them back even further from the breach. The demigod yelled, "Flaming Marshmallows!" and the rest of their group (the Magnificent Seven, no the Seven Samurai Slayers) practically ran from the breach and took cover behind the tables.

"Oh yeah, take this evil Japanese robots! Feel the wrath of the Super-Sized McShizzle and the Flaming Flame Thrower™!" The boy then proceeded to light the catapult on fire with his _flaming finger_ , then send volleys of the green substance towards the breach. The fire sailed through, then created a massive explosion on the other side. The Cisco look alike whooped and danced spastically, along with a cute but scarily buff little kid next to him.

"Oh man. Where can I get me some of that?" Cisco wanted that explosive. He could make flaming _green arrows_ for the _Green Arrow_. Oh yes.

Cisco was pulled out of his thoughts when Percy stepped forward, using water to completely cover the flames on their side of the breach and smother it. So it was petroleum based then, needed complete absence of oxygen to extinguish. On second thought, those arrows might cause a bit of collateral damage.

"Aren't we supposed to be doing something?" Julian muttered beside him. Right. The plan. Cisco strode forward, dodging little fires that were hadn't been extinguished yet. He nodded and Julian jumped through, gun up and ready. Grabbing Percy's arm, he threw them both into the breach and out onto the other side. He then quickly closed the breach, gasping in relief as the throbbing headache went away.

"What the _Hades_!" A female voice was screaming in his ear. Who was she and why was she yelling?

He figured it out real quick when he was violently hauled to his feet, a sharp sword pointed at his neck. Oh.

"What the Hades did you just do? Were you trying to kidnap Percy again?" Annabeth snarled at Cisco's look of confusion and, let's be honest, a bit of fear. "Didn't expect me to come through, did you?"

"Not kidnapping. Needed his help. We're friends. Which apparently he hasn't told you. Was going to bring him back". Cisco wheezed. Trying to breathe with a sword made of bones pointed at his neck wasn't fun.

"Sure you were. You're not taking him from me again, you slimy..."

"Annabeth. I'm fine". Percy voice interrupted his girlfriend's rant. Cisco looked over and saw the demigod hunched over, face very green. The blonde gave Cisco one last glare, then dropped him to the ground and strode over to Percy. Julian gave Cisco a hand up, eyebrow raised. "You didn't warn him before dragging him through the breach?"

"In hindsight, that wasn't my best idea". Cisco rubbed his head ruefully, then looked at all the battle raging around them. Shrubs and greenery were on fire as the samuraoids dashed around, too many of them for Team Flash to fully contain. They were doing a decent job of keeping them away from civilians and out of buildings, but there seemed to be a limitless amount of the samurai robots. "On the other hand, bad ideas seem to be the order of the day. Holy cow. I'm glad we came back though".

Cisco adjusted his glasses and tightened his gauntlets, preparing for a fight. "Well, Earth-12 may only get a 2-star rating for friendly, but Baron Katana definitely gets a one star for fun, 4 stars for destruction of city property. Oh look" Cisco pointed at the imposing figure standing on top of the courthouse with his energy sword raised high. "Found him".


	4. Misunderstandings and Meta Mishaps

**Hey friends. Another chapter is here! If you couldn't tell, the pacing of this story is a bit slower than the Hurricane of Lightning, partially because I am developing a brand new villain (at least a brand new version of the Thinker) and trying to give each character some screentime and personal development. This story will be longer than the Hurricane of Lightning, so don't worry that our characters are still just meeting up in chapter 4. Also, from the last chapter, the easter eggs were:**

 **Trial of Apollo: the kid standing next to Leo's Flaming Flame Thrower™ was Harley, who is described as "cute but scarily buff little kid".**

 **DC comics: the material Cisco uses to create Percy's sword is experimental Promethium, the metal used to for Cyborg. I think it is also used by Deathstroke at some point in the comics but I'm not sure. Believe it or not, I'm really not that familiar with the DC comic universe.**

 **And that's all! Read, review, and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Percy hated breaches. It was what started the whole Zoom mess, what forced him to lie to his friends, and what ripped him away from them again. He was going to have words with Cisco when this was over. He flipped over on his back, ears ringing and stomach churning. The transition had felt different this time, like walking through molten lava. Tendrils of the multiverse pulling and pushing him in different directions. He was a compass that couldn't find north. But Cisco had improved as Vibe and Percy was nothing if not stubborn, so he had made it to Earth-1. Perhaps it was the remnants of Hestia's protection, which was apparently gone. Percy was relieved that he was no longer bound to silence, but nervous about the multiverse having open access to his earth again. It was hard enough to defend the camps from monsters, much less metas from other worlds.

How the barrier was broken was a mystery, but Percy was certain Nico had something to do with it. Not intentionally of course, but it couldn't be a coincidence that a breach had opened so quickly after the son of Hades "drew from the air and atmosphere" to shadow travel. It was funny, just after his friends understood he couldn't talk about his time away, he was released from his oath. Percy felt much more free than he had since his last adventure on Earth-1. He could tell his friends everything now, and Zoom, the monster that haunted his nightmares and sent chills down his spine, was dead. He didn't feel the sickening whisper of _disloyal, hurting your friends_ whenever he saw them now. Of course, now that he could talk to them and right the wrongs his oath had caused, he was swept away into the multiverse and probably wouldn't see them again for months. You know what? The Fates were going to get an unpleasant visit from Percy after they solved the latest threat to the multiverse.

Something was tapping his shoulder incessantly, a muffled voice. Cisco, probably. But Percy was focused on not puking right then. Breathe in, breathe out. The world was tilting dangerously from side to side. So this was what seasickness felt like. Eventually the tapping stopped but the voices grew louder. Forcing himself to crack open his eyes, he saw Cisco being threatened by...Annabeth? Thank the gods, she had followed him through. He wasn't sure what he would do without his angry, brilliant Wise Girl. Somehow her presence just made everything better. Though, to be honest, her ability actually execute well thought-out plans probably had something to do with that.

"Annabeth. I'm fine" Percy called, attempting to sit up. His stomach lurched for a few seconds, then settled. Annabeth dropped Cisco (unhappily if he had to guess) and strode over to Percy. "You good, Seaweed Brain?"

"Ugh, yeah. What happened? Did Cisco push us both through?" Percy took Annabeth's offered hand and got to his feet, head clearing.

"The guy, Cisco apparently, grabbed you after the Greek fire was put out. I tagged along for the ride. Like you said, you're not getting away from me. Never again".

"Together" Percy finished, giving his fantastic girlfriend a crooked smile. He glanced at the city for the first time, noticing the army of samuraoids dashing about. They weren't very smart or organized, just as liable to set themselves on fire as they were the city. But their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Percy saw Cisco and Julian looking up at the courthouse, where a man was standing with an energy sword. There was Joe and Iris (who apparently now was out fighting with the team), a blur that must be the Flash, and Caitlin who was...shooting ice out of her hands? When had that happened?

Turning Cisco's sword in his hands, he looked at the engineer as he walked over, Julian running out to help the rest of the team. Cisco nervously shifted as Annabeth ran her fingers along her drakon sword. "Look, Percy. I shouldn't have just pulled you through like that. But we really need your help. We have to take this guy down before he uses his army for something really destructive, like using that energy sword or blowing up buildings, instead of setting shrubbery on fire and issuing threats to get the Flash to face him".

Percy frowned. "But he's right there. Why doesn't Ba...the Flash want to fight him?"

Cisco looked at him like he was stupid, slowly stating, "That's not the Flash. That's Kid Flash".

"The who now?" Percy was pretty sure he wasn't a thing last time he was here.

"Dang, I forgot that he wasn't around when you were here last. Just, he's the Flash's...protege, but Dr. Evil here want to talk with the original Flash. Who, by the way, is stuck in the speed force. Yeah" Cisco caught Percy's complete and utter confusion "I'll explain that one later. For now, I just need your help to get that idiot down from the courthouse before he realizes that the Flash isn't going to show".

Percy nodded slowly, glancing at Annabeth. She didn't look happy, but he could tell she was already constructing a strategy. "Alright Cisco. We are going to have a long conversation about this later". Turning to his girlfriend, Percy inquired, "What's the plan, Wise Girl?"

Annabeth bit her lip and scrunched her eyebrows. "Alright. Cisco, can you open up a breach right behind him on the roof?"

Cisco thought for a moment. "Yeah. I'm not sure what kind of defenses he has against that. Whenever Wally gets close, he is repelled by some sort of energy force from the sword".

"Worth a try then. Percy, you and I will go through. He may not be expecting us. You distract, I'll subdue".

"Why do I always have to be the bait?" Percy winned.

"Because you are oh so good at it, Seaweed Brain" Annabeth teased. Yeah, unfortunately Percy couldn't argue with that. Annabeth accepted a pair of meta-cuffs from Cisco. "Theoretically, if we take out the leader, we take out the robots".

"Samuraoids" Cisco corrected, slipping his goggles on again.

"Yeah, I'm not calling them that". Annabeth fixed Cisco with one of her best glares, then her and Percy readied their weapons. When the glowing breach opened up in front of them, they jumped through without hesitation. Percy could still feel the pull of something else, but Annabeth's presence kept him centered, focused on the goal. Tightening his grip on his sword, they were spit out right behind the evil Baron samurai dude. When they were not electrocuted or thrown off the building, Percy figured their plan had worked. Now for part two. Sneak attack.

Percy was pleasantly surprised, shocked even, when the plan worked. Of course it was Annabeth's plan, so the probability of success was 100% higher than any of Percy's plans. Distracting the samuraoid leader (Yes, the title isn't original. He'd had a long day. And there isn't much you can do with "Baron Katana"), he tried really hard not to get electrocuted by the sword as Annabeth donned the invisibility hat she always kept in her back pocket. With a few well timed kicks and a sword hilt to the back of the head, Annabeth subdued the man. She instantly shackled him in the anti-meta cuffs Cisco had given her. He didn't seem like a meta (other than a possible super-engineering power), but you could never be too careful on Earth-1.

Pulling off the man's helmet, they were greeted with the image of an older, dark haired man. He was unconscious now, but Percy figured he had to be pretty smart (and certifiably insane) to build all those robots. Annabeth reached inside his ear, pulling out something electronic. She instantly smashed it, a brief whirring sound before she crushed the thing into a pile of parts.

"Percy, the sword" Annabeth held out her hand impatiently. Ah, yes. That was his role. Scooping up the sword by the hilt, he handed it to Annabeth.

"It looks like he was using this to interface with the robots, typing in commands using some form of morse code. Clever, the computer can convert that to binary faster than vocalization". Shifting the handle back and forth, Annabeth stated: "I think I can trigger a self destruct code. But I need all the robots somewhere where they won't blow holes in buildings".

"Got that". Percy stood on the edge of the roof and waved the Flash...no, Kid Flash, over. The man skidded to a stop next to Percy in seconds. He noticed that this Flash wore a yellow suit instead of a red suit. So he was the Big Bird to the Flash's Elmo. He was blurring his face so that Percy couldn't see who he was, which was ridiculous since the only people Percy knew here were already out fighting.

"What?" the man's voice vibrated strangly.

"My friend and I can trigger the self destruct on the Feudal Terminators, but we need civilians and structures out of the blast zone".

Kid Flash nodded slowly, looking over the city center. "I think the best option is to get them all in the park. I can get them there but can't keep them all there for long.

"We don't need long". Annabeth cut in, sounding sure of herself. "I'm ready whenever you are".

Kid Flash nodded and ran down to the city center. Recruiting Cisco's help, he gathered the samuraoids and shuttled them to the park in less than a minute. He skidded to a stop on top of the courthouse, and Annabeth entered the sequence. The horizon lit up like magnesium as the samuraoid army burned up and disintegrated into dust. Of course the majority of the park did too, but that was better than the city. The yellow speedster ran Annabeth and Percy down from the building, where the rest of Team Flash were waiting.

"That seem too easy to anyone?" Percy asked, retracting the very cool mortal steel sword into the hilt.

"Easy? We have to have fought hundreds of those things!" Joe complained. "Not to mention the level of city property destroyed by the samuraoids".

Percy held up his hands in surrender, "Not trying to make light of the situation, Joe. Just, the bad guy had a _self destruct sequence_ ".

"What is it with villains and self destruct buttons?" Cisco wondered aloud, checking the restraints on Baron Katana.

"Is that a thing on this earth? Because on ours, they don't tend to do that. It's more of a 'bring your own bomb' situation".

"Yeah, they do that. I guess it comes with the supervillain territory". Cisco took off his glasses, folded them up, and placed them in the pocket of his jacket.

"Leo?" Annabeth asked, squinting at Cisco as if he was a hallucination. Without the Vibe glasses on, Cisco looked a lot more like his doppleganger.

"No, Cisco. C-I-S-C-O". Cisco (un)helpfully spelled out, pointing at himself. Percy rolled his eyes.

"No, he's Leo's doppleganger. You know, like..."

"I know what a doppelganger is, Percy". Annabeth interrupted, sheathing her drakon sword. "It's just...weird to see in person. Wait, that means that we are on another earth. Which means the theory of the multiverse..."

"Is true". Cisco answered, grinning at Annabeth. Caitlin sidled up next to him followed by a draft of frosty air. She placed a chain with a silver snowflake on it around her neck, white hair instantly turned darker, not quite her usual brown but close. The air around her shimmered and then returned to its normal temperature.

"We have a lot to catch up on". Percy said warily. Because Caitlin _definitely_ wasn't like that last time he was here. "Let's start with..."

"Percy!" He was interrupted by a flurry of dark hair running up and hugging him. He timidly hugged the person, Iris, back. "Hey Iris! Good to see you again". Which it was, but when did they become close enough friends for hugs?

"It is _great_ to see you. Thank goodness Cisco finally found you! I told you". She bounced away from Percy and directed the last statement to her father, who was standing next to Caitlin. "I told you Barry would be coming home. We just had to keep trying, keep looking for a way through the barrier..."

"Whoa, slow down, Iris". Percy held up a hand to stop the words flooding from her mouth. "I will help you in any way I can, but I have absolutely no idea what is going on. And before anyone does anything, Cisco is going to take Annabeth and me back to our Earth so that our friends don't plan a full scale invasion. Because with the Hephaestus and Athena cabins combined, they _will_ find a way to make a breach".

The reporter's excitement diminished. "Oh. Cisco didn't explain?"

"We were a little busy with the robot invasion..." Cisco trailed off almost timidly, clutching his glasses again and making some adjustments with a screwdriver.

Annabeth glared at Cisco. "He didn't explain _anything_. Like who the Hades you people are, _where_ we are, how you all have powers without being demigods, and who the heck Barry is".

"Erm". Cisco for once looked at a loss for words. Percy grinned, enjoying the engineer's discomfort a bit after having been unceremoniously dragged through a breach. He finally took pity on him when Joe started to finger the safety of his rifle. "Alright everybody, calm down. We are all on the same side here. We obviously need to exchange information".

"Yes, and we will do so right now, back at the cortex" Joe insisted, one arm protectively near Iris. Well that was unnecessary and a bit rude, to be honest. Percy has just been dragged through a breach and helped save their city, not to mention their previous history. And Joe didn't trust him? Tough luck, because there was no way that they were going back to the cortex before heading back to Earth-12. The debrief would take a long time, and the campers needed to be there to hear it. The son of Poseidon rushed to answer before Annabeth could threaten Team Flash anymore or Joe used that tranquilizer gun.

"No. I'm sorry, but I'm putting my foot down. Last time I was here, my friends were worried sick. You are welcome to come with, but Annabeth and I are returning to my earth. Now".

"I don't think you are in any position to be arguing. You're trapped here until Cisco lets you back". The yellow (Kid) Flash answered in his vibrating voice, crossing his arms. Okay, he wanted to play it this way? Percy could do that.

He walked up slowly, allowing Joe and Julian to train their weapons on him. Gods, you'd think after their last adventure, there would be a little more trust. Percy, drew up level to his mask, talking slowly and seriously. At least he hoped it was coming across seriously, though he thought he might have crossed over into the menacing category. Great. Way to make friends, Percy.

"I don't think you want to do that, _kid_ ". Yeah, mocking was probably not the way to go here, but this was Percy. Mocking and sarcasm were his default setting. "Did you see that back there? That was my friend and I saving your city. You're welcome. Now, I want to part as friends again. I want to come back and help Barry out of whatever mess he has landed in this time. But Cisco has already strained my trust by throwing me into a breach with no warning. The guns pointed at my face are straining relations even more so. My girlfriend, the one standing behind me with a large sword, is not going to take your refusal well. So listen carefully, friend. We are going back to Earth-12. If you and your friends want my help, you will let me go".

"Alright, children, back down. Percy, they didn't mean that. Things have been...tense around here since Barry left". Caitlin placed a cold hand on both Percy and Kid Flash, pushing them away from each other. "Cisco's going to open a breach for you and your girlfriend. We are appreciative of what you both did here, and would like the opportunity to catch up and hopefully work _together_ to retrieve Barry".

Percy's temper died down again, tension rolling away from him like a current. He nodded, smiling at Caitlin before glancing expectantly at Cisco. The engineer nodded, pulling his glasses back out and opening a breach. Annabeth tugged at his hand and Percy obliged, ready to head back. They stepped forward to go through the breach and...

"Wait! I'm coming with you". Iris's voice rose over the whirring of the breach. Percy turned back, took one look at the determination in her eyes and knew that nothing could stop her. "Of course. Anyone who wants to come is welcome to. I would holster your weapons, thought. My family is a little twitchy around strangers".

"You don't say" Percy heard Cisco mutter under his breath. He grinned as the whole team sheathed their weapons and the metas tried to look less intimidating. He turned to Annabeth, "We have to be ready to mediate this meeting".

"You're on your own, Seaweed Brain. I'll keep them from killing each other, but I'm not going to stop the inquisition squad".

Percy grinned. Yeah, this meeting was going to be all kinds of crazy. Considering how Percy met Team Flash, and that the Flash himself (who was generally a calming influence) was missing, he didn't have high hopes to avoid a fight.

"Well then. Let's get this show on the road". Stepping into the breach, Percy tried to focus his brain. Perhaps he hadn't been fixed on where he was going the last couple times through the breach. "Home" he thought, picturing images of Camp Half Blood, his friends, capture the flag. The tendrils reached for him again, some more insistent than others, but a thin strand the color of the setting sun wrapped itself around him and his companions, the multiverse directing him home to Earth-12.

They appeared in the mess hall again, which was filled with campers sorting and sharpening the samuroid swords, cleaning up the broken pieces of the robots, and gathering around one of the tables, the Poseidon table, with maps. All of them were now staring at their group and the breach that closed behind them, grasping any mortal steel weapon they could find. Great, they were already planning for war. It was nice, but at the same time it would make his job much harder.

"Guys! His tracker just went online again!" Leo exclaimed, tugging on Calypso's sleeve when she didn't respond. The demigod was fiddling with the PPS (Percy Positioning System) monitor, the tracking system he implemented when Percy got back from Earth-1 last time. All of the seven plus most of the older campers had a tracker now. Nico was one of the only holdouts, insisting that he "did not need another way for Solace to mother-hen him". Leo looked up in annoyance when no one acknowledged him and then saw their group standing there. "Oh. Nevermind".

Piper was standing next to Leo, her face as close to rage as Percy had ever seen it. Charmspeak heavily laced her voice when she demanded, "Let my friends go".

Team Flash stood there under the spell of Piper's voice, no one moving to stop or help Percy and Annabeth. Kid Flash was unfortunately the first one to break free of Piper's hold, running over to her and in a blink he held Piper against the wall, hand covering her mouth. The rest of the seven drew samuraoid weapons, nearby campers wielding table legs, silverware, and dishes for lack of mortal steel. Percy looked around in pride. His camp, his family, were truly something. Of course they were also going to attack an innocent man. For attacking an innocent woman who was one of Percy's best friends. Gods, this was getting too complicated.

Annabeth was standing beside him, her face glowing with pride and poorly concealed anger. He wouldn't be getting any help from her. "Stay here, Annabeth. Keep an eye on the rest of Team Flash. Please don't make this any worse".

"Define worse" Annabeth muttered. Percy ignored her, the crowd of demigods parting for him. He arrived at the scene just as Jason launched himself at Kid Flash. The speedster merely redirected the Roman with a speedy push to his shoulder, sending him launching into a table instead. That seemed to break the dam, campers flooding forward cautiously but with protective fury. Percy could almost feel the tension in the air. He had to end this. Quickly.

"Stop!" He yelled, having to forcibly push Clarise away. The daughter of Ares bared her teeth at him, but stayed back. WIth a bit of room between the campers and the irate daughter of Aphrodite, he moved in. Deciding that adding more fuel to the fire wouldn't help anything, he stood in Kid Flash's peripheral vision and crossed his arms. "I thought we talked about this. You know, _not_ attacking my friends".

"She attacked first". Kid Flash's vibrating voice sounded a bit uncertain.

"She was merely ensuring you wouldn't do, well, this". Percy gestured vaguely to Piper and the rest of the campers. He softened his voice, "Please put her down. This isn't what Barry would want. If he were here right now, we would all be laughing and catching up".

"But he's not". Kid Flash growled, though he let Piper go. Percy waved Piper back, who gave him a look that said she was _not_ happy, but let him handle the situation anyways. "He's trapped because of me. But he's not back because of you".

"I told you, I will help however I can. I just needed to come home first. As you can tell, my family don't take kindly to one of their own being threatened. And from their perspective, Cisco and Julian just stole their co-leaders, then returned with a small army".

Kid Flash nodded slowly, understanding dawning in his eyes. Percy clasped him on the shoulder, directing him back towards the rest of the team. "Come on, Big Bird. Let's introduce everybody".

* * *

 _Earth-1_

 _Iron Heights Prison: Metahuman containment sector_

" _Baron Katana" The guards jeered, shoving the broad man into his containment cell. They still hadn't ran a metahuman test, so they were taking precautions. Useless, but amusing. "What a horrible name. Horrible name for a crazy old man"._

" _How about this? When you can build an army of robots, then you can make fun of my name". The Baron sneered as the snickering guards walked away._

" _Yeah, well you won't be building anything in here. Have fun staring at the walls, psychopath"._

 _Their footsteps receded down the hallway, the clang of the reinforced door signalling their exit. The Baron grinned, pulling out a small device hidden in his teeth while he banged on the wall. Oh he wasn't going to get through the cell, he knew that, but it didn't make the effort fruitless. He hit the button on the device, effectively cutting out the cameras in the sector just as his next door neighbor stated: "Not going to work, buddy. Tried that already"._

" _Yeah, well, I'm not giving up". The Baron placed his ear on the wall, listening to the woman. "I'm going to make the Flash pay. He wouldn't even face me himself, the coward"._

" _Good luck, buddy. Word on the street is that he's dead. Or missing, anyways". The man in the cell across from him crossed his arms, scowling. "Plus, if we get out of here, I get first dibs"._

" _Oh, we're getting out of here". The Baron smiled a cruel, twisted smile. "Someplace like this can't contain me"._

 _The woman next to him snorted "Really? Trust me buddy, if this thing can neutralize my powers, it can neutralize yours"._

" _I'm not speaking of the containment, which is_ very _impressive. But only while inside the cell". The Barron showed them his little device, a predatory smile curling on his face. "No, I've already figured out how to eliminate the cameras and it has been 2 minutes. It is only a matter of time before I find a way to get out"._

 _The man gave him a look of utter disbelief. "You do that, buddy". He turned on some sort of music speaker. The Baron was frustrated. These_ neanderthals _didn't understand. But they would. And then, then they would help him find the Flash. Everything was proceeding according to plan._

 _Oh yes, his samuraoids were a work of art. But they were intentionally stupid. You couldn't play all your high cards in the first round, could you? Poor Baron Katana. Brilliant engineer, stupid man. Calling and calling for the Flash, who would never come. No, the fools saw only what they wanted to see. The man giggled, a high pitch shadow of a laugh. They even brought the son of the sea to play. Oh yes, this was going_ very _well._

 _Using the small device, he turned off the power on the speakers and turned the cameras back on. When the man exclaimed angrily, the Barron merely placed a finger to his lips. "Shhhhhh" he intonated, a wicked smile flitting across his face, "I'm thinking"._


	5. Science the Schist Out of This

**The full chapter title (because apparently there is a limit on chapter name length and I like movie quotes too much) is this: We're Going to Have to Science the Schist Out of This.**

 **Sorry for the delayed update. This chapter is dedicated to RosettaQueen20, who requested an Annabeth chapter. Also, last call for POV requests, as I'm finalizing my chapter outlines after this week. Enjoy!**

* * *

Annabeth was done with the fates.

Finally things were getting back to normal. They were in college, safe, and able to conquer life like average sword toting demigods. But no, the fates couldn't let their favorite playthings live in peace for long. "Oh, Annabeth and Percy are happy, the seven haven't had to deal with a world ending event for two years, let's throw in the theory of the multiverse. Yeah, that will end well".

On the other hand, the theory of the multiverse appeared to be true. Which was freaking awesome.

Annabeth let Percy lead their group of cabin leaders and the...whoever they were...from Earth-1 into the Big House. She could practically see Percy wishing that they were in Camp Jupiter, with the Pomerian Line and Terminus to enforce peace (or at least discourage dismemberment). Instead, he settled for glaring at anyone whose weapon came close to leaving their holster or scabbard. Gathering around the ping-pong table, Annabeth ceeded her usual seat at the head of the table to Percy, sitting instead to his right. Cisco sat to his left and the groups were seated on opposite sides of the table from each other, glaring heatedly and fingering weapons. Chiron slid in as well, taking up a spot along the back wall.

"So..." Percy began eloquently, nervously tapping his fingers. "Given the circumstances, I think my oath on the Styx has been revoked". He glanced out the window as if he expected some response. None came, so he shrugged his shoulders and continued. Annabeth leaned forward, anxious to finally get some answers.

"The fall of senior year, after big three capture the flag, I was out walking in the woods. As usual, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A dark figure with a horde of monsters was standing there, in front of a glowing circle".

Percy told the whole story, with Cisco filling in some of the details from Team Flash's point of view. Annabeth's throat tightened as Percy glossed over his time with Zoom and the blood draining. That's what his nightmares had been about. She hadn't been there for him, and it made her _mad_.

Everything was coming together now, the oath he had sworn, the way he never left his cabin during a thunderstorm, the burn marks when he returned that looked remarkably similar to the burn Thalia had given him yesterday. Earlier today? She couldn't even remember what day it was anymore. He had come back from his "adventure" stronger and yet more broken at the same time. She finally knew _why_ , and it felt like the world had again been lifted from her shoulders.

Leo was bouncing with excitement as he peered around Jason and Frank to get a better look at Cisco. The man in question was fiddling with his Vibe gauntlets in a manner almost identical to Leo's mechanical fidgeting.

"And so Hestia sealed our earth off from the rest of the multiverse and Team Flash sent Zoom to prison. Which apparently didn't last long. The Olympians made me swear an oath on the Styx, and here we are". Percy finished, sitting back down and running his hand through his hair.

"How did the breaches open again? We have been trying to get through for months now with no results". Caitlin leaned forward, her brownish-grey eyes alight with curiosity.

"I don't know. But I think Nico did it". The son of Hades looked a bit shocked, then nodded as if it made sense. Percy continued, "We had a bit of an...altercation...yesterday, and Nico had to step in. He can shadow travel. It's similar to teleportation but usually only able to transport children of Hades. Nico can shadow travel across great distances and can take others with him, but yesterday was the first time he successfully shadow traveled something that wasn't himself. I think he effectively opened a breach. Remember Hestia said that she sealed us off from other earths?"

The team Flash crew nodded thoughtfully. Annabeth shook her head in disbelief. Percy had never been stupid (although there were moments he was a complete idiot), but she would have never classified him as logical either. Maybe college was actually getting through that thick skull of his. Percy continued, "Well, I think the barrier could only be broken if we tried to access the multiverse. As Nico unknowingly did".

The group sat quietly, processing the information. Percy took advantage of the silence to ask Cisco what was going on in their earth, and Leo's doppleganger briefly outlined the events of their past couple years. Annabeth processed the information quickly, noting events she needed to question later. Because she might not be a science major, but she definitely wanted to write a paper on Flashpoint.

"Wait, so Barry is stuck in the speed force? How is that even possible?" Annabeth's mind finally paused on a single piece of data. "If the speed force is pure energy, a place in the multiverse where time and space don't exist, a human shouldn't be able to inhabit it".

The blonde one, Julian, sighed and crossed his arms, "Of course. But Barry is a metahuman speedster, not a normal human. I would be incinerated upon entry, but Wally here as a speedster was able to inhabit the speed trap".

Annabeth nodded slowly, "But the speed trap in general, how did that come into existence? I know" she held up a hand to stop Julian from interrupting "Time loop. But even a time loop has to have some sort of 'the loops starts here' moment. Like, the chicken and the egg assumes that one of the following was created or evolved from something else. But Savitar and the speed force trap? If Savitar is Barry's double or time remnant created to _stop Savitar_ , why does it exist in the first place? Was Savitar originally not a time remnant? Was he originally not from Barry's efforts to defeat Savitar and through the cycle he has become the time remnant used to stop Savitar? And you may have killed this Savitar, but who is to say that the cycle won't continue? Time always finds a way to self-correct. Here we call that the Fates".

The crowd stared at her for a second. Cisco, Caitlin, and Julian were obviously mulling through her logic while the campers looked at her like she had grown two heads. Not that she wasn't used to it.

"You just turned my brain to mush, Wise Girl. I just fight the stuff that comes from all this sciencey crap". And there was Percy, doing his killer impression of a five year old.

"It's going to matter if we want to get your friend out of the speed force". She paused, a new idea sparking in her mind. "Why did you guys come to us anyways? I am sure there are more scientifically evolved earths out there. Hades, there are more intelligent beings on our earth than us".

"I can guess". Percy spoke up a second before Cisco started talking. "You want Hestia to help again".

Cisco nodded. "We can't get him out using science. We need to bend the laws of nature. And your Hestia is the only one I know that can do that".

It was good reasoning. Sound. But wrong. "Hestia can't break the laws of nature, or the multiverse. The Olympians _are_ the laws of nature on our earth. From everything we know about the gods, they has no jurisdiction in the multiverse. Hestia could defend our earth because she is the goddess of the hearth, of the home. But she has no power anywhere else".

Team Flash's faces fell. Iris, Barry's fiance, sniffled and looked away. Percy looked at Annabeth with those baby seal eyes, like begging could make her change the laws of the universe. Luckily for him, she had an idea.

"I have an idea. It probably won't work, but it's an idea". She waved her hand as if to ward off their hope. "Listen, you have been focused on bringing _Barry_ back. Metahuman Barry, the Flash. You are looking in the wrong place". Seeing their looks of confusion, she tried again. "Take the Underworld for example. I've been doing some fascinating research on the architecture of the dead and I happened to stumble across something that might be applicable here. The dead in the underworld are not living, they're...intangible. But children of Hades, such as Nico and Hazel, can interact with them on a physical, tangible level. Percy or I could talk to them, but they may not even realize we were there and we _certainly_ couldn't view them as a tangible entity. Like, Percy couldn't punch Octavian in the face".

The campers grinned at her last remark while Team Flash looked confused. Best to move on then. She spoke faster, the threads of information finally weaving together to form an image. She moved her hands quickly, reeling her audience in and pulling together the data to form a solid conclusion. "And because our world is definitely mystical, the Olympians, demigods, clear sighted mortals have dismissed us as magic, transcending the laws of nature. But magic is just science that hasn't been explained yet. Our origins may be explained by a supernatural being, but the earth is still subject to the laws set up at the beginning of everything. For example, the Olympians are immortal because their cellular regeneration is so different from human regeneration. Their cells are literally energy. Monsters come back from the dead because they can piece themselves back together on a molecular level. And the dead? Their bodies are gone but their spirit still exists as primordial energy. In the world but not interacting with the world. Nico and Hazel? My theory is that they operate at an in-between frequency that allows them interaction with the mortal realm and the Underworld. Hades? He can manipulate the primordial energy of the Underworld. Your 'speed force'? It's just another earth, one that only speedsters can vibrate at the correct frequency for. But in someplace like that? With the energy readings you are talking about?" She gestured to the data on the computer Cisco had set up. "This 'earth' _is_ energy. So you are looking for a way to bring back a physical, human, tangible body. But you aren't looking for one. You are looking for a speck of energy in the haystack of the multiverse that is Barry Allen".

She breathed heavily, letting the implications of her statement sink in before continuing. "We are not trying to extract matter. We are trying to extract energy, electrons. My theory is that once extracted on your earth, his body will reform into the state it was before. Because his body didn't _die_ , his mass is still conserved, he just transcended his body for the time being. He's constantly running at high speeds to vibrate at the high frequency necessary in the speedforce. All he needs is a push and a shove into Earth-1 and his matter will solidify. This makes our lives a lot easier. Because we don't need a person to fill the speedtrap. We need primordial energy".

The room was still, like the audience's silence after an orchestra struck their last note. Tension pulling between the performers and the audience, the epiphany and the reaction. Annabeth read confusion on lots of faces, understanding on others. Surprisingly, some of the demigods seemed to understand. Nico, for one, was nodding slowly. Will had a furrow in his brow but was on the verge of catching on. Malcolm was obviously following her train of thought. But the biggest surprise was Percy. He had a mask of confusion stretched across his face, but she had always been able to read him. Though he may not have understood the science behind it, what she was saying wasn't a surprise. In fact, he looked nervous, like the puzzle was assembling before his eyes and he didn't like what he saw.

"So, we just need to get energy and Barry can just...walk out?" Joe gestured with his hands, obviously confused but hopeful. Caitlin was already shaking her head, "No, Barry is a speedster, and a powerful one at that. You would need a lot of energy, like, equivalent to the first particle accelerator explosion".

"Ah, I think I can help with that". Travis Stoll's voice rose out of nowhere, shocking the entire room. Campers looked at him in complete and utter shock. "You?" Malcolm snorted in disbelief.

"Yes me. Rude much?" Travis glared at Malcolm then continued. "So Connor was busy with classes and I was bored. Really bored. So, I decided to do some...hands on research".

"You stole from a museum". Jason crossed his arms. "Why am I not surprised anymore?"

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I did, isn't it?" Travis retorted defensively. "Now, where was I? Ah, right. So, my aunt's brother-in-law's mother is a curator at The Met. I sometimes meet with my aunt's brother in law, who works odd jobs and does some...well, burglary on the side. We keep up to date, swap information, and eat some really good food. I had just...appropriated someone's black American Express and boy did we eat well, lobster drizzled in butter sauce and..." Travis trailed off when Annabeth glared. "Right, not important. So he said that his mom was all stressed out, talking about some big Egyptian exhibit that was coming into town. Apparently they recently acquired some artifacts that were thought to be lost and were pulling out all the stops for the grand unveiling. So I staked out the Met, collected blueprints from Luis, my aunt's brother-in-law. I've never actually pulled a heist there before, but you know, I figured since the Greek and Roman gods are real but the Egyptian ones aren't, we're the next best people to hold onto these very rare, powerful objects. Or at least the ones who should profit from them, right?"

"You wanted the challenge". Percy's voice was flat. Annabeth understood. They never told anyone about the Egyptian gods, and they were treading dangerously close to that line now. She could already tell that this story wasn't going to end well. "Get on with it, Travis. How does this help us?"

"Right, so I wanted the challenge". He admitted. "But I was _so bored_. Like, really bored. So I went to the Met, got information about the event, was all ready to execute the heist of a lifetime. But something went wrong. Someone got there before I did".

"Luis?" Piper asked.

"No, some really cute girl and a scary boy. Tall, dark, intimidating. Gave off a powerful aura. So I was like, what monsters are trying to steal _my_ artifact? But they only took one thing: a big fat book. Called the Book of Sloth or something. I looked it up later, apparently it was like a roadmap to Egyptian mythology. So I figured, the Olympians aren't going to let us take an object of Greek or Roman power to help out this Barry dude, so why not take something super powerful from some gods who aren't real? And this book can lead us to them". Travis finished, extremely proud of himself. Annabeth stood there in shock for a moment, trying to reconcile "oh my gods the Book of Thoth was stolen again" and "Of all the people, Travis Stoll was the one who found out about Egyptians".

Cisco, on the other hand, was super excited. "Yes, that could work! We just need to track down these monster book stealers and find an object that can replace Barry! A mythological artifact is bound to have a lot of power, more than enough for something like this. Where do we start?"

"We don't". Percy's voice cut above the chatter. The whole room turned to look at him incredulously.

"What the hell, man? You said that you would help us get Barry back. Now that we have a chance, you want to give up?" The man in the yellow suit, Kid Flash or whatever, started to spark. Dang it. Things were going so well.

"You promised, Percy. Please, even if it doesn't work, we have to try". Iris took the calmer approach, calming down her brother with a touch and pleading with Percy.

"You don't understand. We're already treading in dangerous waters". Percy looked at Annabeth desperately for help. She almost grinned. However helpful it was for Percy to understand what was going on, she had missed his dependance on her plans and ideas.

"What Percy means, is that we have met these people before. And we came to an...agreement. And going after the Book of _Thoth_ , well, that would be like declaring war". Annabeth made eye contact with the demigods in the room, silently reminding them that they really didn't want a war right now.

"We want to help Barry. We _will_ help Barry. But we can't go chasing after this book to do it". Percy summarized, rubbing his face.

Annabeth took in the disappointment across the room, then looked to the corner where Chiron was sitting. She raised an eyebrow, _Is it time_? Her mentor shrugged and blinked in response to her inquiry. _Not my call, Annabeth. They'll find out eventually. Just don't cause more trouble_. Yeah, like that was going to happen. She sighed heavily, turning back to the group.

"Well..." Annabeth trailed off, looking at Percy. "We can't go stealing this book. We have contacts though".

His eyes widened momentarily, recognizing what she was inferring. "You sure?" Dang it, the seal eyes were back again. She hated herself a little for giving him false hope, but nodded. "Yeah. Let's see what we can do".

* * *

"So let me get this straight? You know the people who stole my book?" Travis's voice crackled annoyingly in her earpiece.

"Not your book, Travis. Their book. They were just stealing it back".

"I still think I should have come with". Travis was dangerously close to whining. "Seeing as this whole thing was my idea".

"Yeah, you tried to steal from them. Somehow I don't think they would be very happy to see you". Percy snorted, taking a sip of his coffee. They were sitting at The Iris Cafe in Brooklyn Heights, waiting on Carter and Sadie. Apparently Iris's Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyle (R.O.F.L) has expanded into cafes. The organic coffee was actually much better than Annabeth had expected. She wasn't brave enough to try the pastries, though it looked like everyone else was enjoying them.

One mention of the Book of Thoth and the siblings were more than willing to meet with Percy and Annabeth. But only Percy and Annabeth. Team Flash insisted on monitoring the conversation. Leo and Cisco had whipped up some demigod-safe surveillance equipment (man it was weird to see the two of them together). They had wanted cameras and thermal sensors (why?) but Percy and Annabeth had drawn the line at earpieces. Even then, Annabeth was going to turn them off as soon as they got down to business. She wouldn't betray Carter and Sadie's confidence like that. Until then, she had to deal with Travis and Cisco's chatter in her ear. Percy wasn't helping, humming the mission impossible theme song as he sipped his coffee.

"Annabeth!" Sadie strode up to the table, Carter in tow. Annabeth hugged Sadie, then shook Carter's hand while Percy hugged both of them. Seriously, Percy was way more like Tyson than he knew.

"Eyes on the targets". Joe said from the white van parked down the street. "Sending video through now".

Targets? Jeez, these people took themselves too seriously. And weren't nearly as oblivious as they thought. The only reason they hadn't been made was because Carter and Sadie were comfortable in Brooklyn. They never thought that mortals would be working with the demigods. Or that Percy and Annabeth would betray their trust.

"Wait, that's the girl that stole the book from me!" Travis yelled in the earpiece, causing Percy to wince, then play it off as stubbing his toe. Of course he actually stubbed his toe in the process, muttering a series of expletives that would have cased Sally to berate him.

The four chatted a bit obscurely, talking about college and life but never mentioning either of their mythological worlds. Carter was enrolled at Columbia in Manhattan (which was shocking since magicians tended to avoid that area at all costs), while Sadie took some classes in Brooklyn. Finally, Sadie leaned back in her chair and said with all her usual tact, "So let's get down to business. You had questions about the Book of Thoth? It's safe in Brooklyn House, just like when we last met".

Annabeth glanced at Percy, reaching over like she was scratching her ear and plucking out the communication device, plunking it in the water glass sitting at the table. Carter's eyebrows raised in surprise as Percy did the same.

"Better to talk without others listening in". Percy said, shrugging his shoulders and keeping an eye on Joe's van. "Let's make this quick, he's not going to leave us for long".

"What was that about? I thought demigods couldn't use electronics?" Carter was looking bit nervous. Sadie clenched her fists, "Someone threatening you?"

Annabeth shook her head, "No, just some overly curious and protective friends. No, we came here because one of our campers was trying to steal the Book of Thoth from a museum exhibit, but Sadie and Walt got there first. Wanted to make sure you guys were alright and had a couple questions. Seaweed Brain over here managed to stumble into the theory of the multiverse".

"Wait, that's real?" Carter asked at the same time Sadie asked, "What's the multiverse?" Annabeth launched into a brief description of Percy's story and her theory on how to get Barry out of the speedforce. "Travis thought that the Book of Thoth could lead us to something powerful enough to use as primordial energy. Which is surprisingly insightful from a boy whose life centers around junk food and burglary".

Sadie scowled. "Some jerk-face rogue magician broke into Brooklyn House and stole a bunch of stuff, including the Book of Thoth. They thought rather small, to be honest, selling it to a museum. But we couldn't exactly challenge our right to it legally, so we stole it back".

"Why can't you find something Greek to use?" Carter inquired.

"Because the Olympians are notoriously selfish and possessive". Annabeth sighed, rubbing her hand over her face. "I was hoping the Egyptians might be more...understanding. Plus, you guys work with the Duat on a much deeper level than the Greeks ever have. My working theory is that the Duat is an expression of the multiverse on our earth, the bottom layer being the interdimensional energy that connects and separates all earths. The same force Cisco taps into in order to Vibe. Maybe Egyptian relics would be more compatible than any of ours?"

Carter and Sadie exchanged a cautious look. "We might have something that could help. We found it using the book after the whole Setne incident. The locals call it جوهرة القتلى, or Jewel of the Dead. Supposedly it would allow magicians to reach the bottom layer of the Duat. All who have tried, however, have been burned up before making contact. We retrieved it to prevent anyone like Setne from using it, but have little use for it ourselves. None of our gods have claimed it, so we shouldn't be angering anyone". Carter finished slowly, as if trying to remember if there was anything he had forgotten.

"You can't come into Brooklyn House, but we can meet you somewhere? I don't think Manhattan is a good idea, but maybe I could..."

"Montauk". Percy interrupted. "Bring it to Montauk Beach. I can pick it up there. The only deity watching from our end will be my dad. And the fates, of course, they can't keep their eye out of anyone's business".

Carter nodded slowly, while Sadie bounced hyperly in her seat. "I take classes near there. Easy. I'll bring it tomorrow morning? Hopefully keep Ra out of our business". She sounded just as excited as Percy was about "undercover" work.

"RIght before dawn, keep Apollo out of it too. He is awfully nosy". Percy said, draining the rest of his coffee then stood up, Annabeth's cue that they were out of time. "Thanks guys, we owe you one".

Carter waved them off while Sadie contemplated what she could make them do. "Nah, you guys helped us out before. We are just returning the favor. That's what we do, right?"

Annabeth smiled at them one last time before grabbing her soaked comm unit and putting it back in her ear. Of course it still worked, Cisco and Leo had designed it after all, but under the water it couldn't make out anything they were saying. Percy did the same, keeping one eye on the van where Joe was starting to open the driver's door. "Sounds great guys. Thanks again for your help". Percy waved at the two of them as they headed towards the van, Travis and Cisco screaming again in their ears. Beside her, Percy licked his lips. Annabeth quickly covered his mouth. "No! I swear, if you hum Mission Impossible one more time, I will cut out your tongue".

Warily removing her hand, Percy winked at her before launching into an off-key whistle of the Pink Panther theme.

* * *

The next morning, Percy appeared out of the Long Island Sound and walked to the mess hall, a glowing red jewel in his hands. His enthusiasm was infectious, impacting the campers and Team Flash alike. Annabeth grinned right along with him, holding the Jewel of the Dead in her palm. "Okay gang. Let's get back the Flash".


	6. We're Barry Glad to See You

**Hey friends! I've got a Caitlin chapter for you all! Next chapter will be Barry POV, I promise. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**

* * *

Setting up the Jewel of the Dead was a lot more complicated than one might think. First, energy readings had to be taken to ensure the plan would work and not, you know, kill everyone. Second, the energy had to be placed in the speed force trap at the exact moment Barry left. And third, demigods and metahumans don't work well together. At all.

"Cisco, back off. Clarisse isn't actually going to spear you". Caitlin attempted to sooth Cisco, who was patting his hair protectively. In Cisco's defense, Caitlin actually did think that Clarisse would spear him, though she would probably limit the damage to maim instead of kill. Annabeth was next to her, trying to convince Clarisse that Cisco didn't need to be speared. "Yes, he is annoying, but he is _Leo's_ doppleganger. What did you expect?"

Caitlin finally pushed Cisco back towards Leo, who was furiously assembling pieces of copper and steel. The teams had both moved back to Earth-1 a few days ago since Percy's camp had literally no technology. Apparently it attracted monsters. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Piper, Jason, Frank, Hazel, and Nico had been selected to go with Team Flash. Clarisse bullied her way into coming, taking someone named Thalia's spot. She apparently lead a feminist group of archers who monster hunted around the world. Currently, they were headed to Peru to deal with some escaped gorgons. Cisco had asked if that made her Wonder Woman, and the daughter of Zeus had darkly muttered something about Hylla and her rowdy pack of Amazons getting all the glory. Another kid, Will, claimed he was needed for his medical expertise. Caitlin had assured them she could take care of any needs the teams might have, but was actually relieved when Will came along. She was a biochemist, not a medical doctor. Not that the kid was either, but apparently his dad was the god of medicine and he was the best healer at camp. Which was a daunting job to say the least. Although Camp Half Blood was free of monsters, it was by no means safe. Just in the time Team Flash was there, 13 campers came to the infirmary with injuries, including one boy who had to have his finger reattached.

They settled into Star Labs rather nicely, pulling out silver tents and sleeping bags like they went camping all the time. Iris set them up on speed track, which made Wally upset but it was that or the pipeline. Percy had glared at Julian when he made that suggestion and stated, "Didn't work so well for Team Flash last time. Want to try it again?"

"We wouldn't lock the doors" Julian muttered, but dropped the issue.

When the teams weren't fighting each other, the demigods' skills were really helpful. Leo and Annabeth helped Cisco and Julian with science and mechanics. Will helped Caitlin account for biochemical variables. Since he had been seen around Central City before, Percy joined Wally to keep the peace in the city. Piper even sweet-talked Mercury Labs into lending them some parts. The rest of the crew spent their time sparring and doing whatever manual labor needed to be done.

But there were definitely issues. This was the third argument Caitlin had meditated today. Admittedly, Team Flash treated them like children (which most of them technically were) whereas the campers were fiercely independent and suspicious of outsiders. Team Flash was a bit too curious for their own good and the demigods were downright defensive. Clarisse for example, had seen Cisco taking measurements of her electric spear and threatened to show him _exactly_ how it worked. Caitlin wasn't sure how she ended up in the middle of all these arguments. Apparently her position as a medical professional (which she wasn't, but no one ever seemed to care) automatically labeled her as someone calm and good under pressure. And it was wearing on her. After listening to her problems with previous restraints, Cisco had made Caitlin's regulator to manage her powers, not completely repress them. Which meant that the more pissed off she got, the harder it was to keep Killer Frost asleep. And she didn't think that anyone would appreciate adding _her_ to the their list of problems.

It didn't help that Annabeth, apparently one of the co-leaders of Camp Half Blood, was mistrustful of Team Flash. She trusted Percy's judgement enough to take them at their word, help with the science, and volunteer the jewel. But the first sign of an argument, she would always side with the demigod. Of course, since the only link between the two teams was out saving Central City, there was little other than "Operation Breakout Barry" that connected them. Any fights between teams were shorter when Percy was there. Which was funny because last time he was in Star Labs, he was picking fights. But maybe that was just with Oliver Queen. Who still wouldn't answer her calls requesting geek squad backup. Gah, Caitlin needed a two week vacation to Aruba.

Their theory was fairly straight-forward (or as much as transdimensional physics could be), but it would take some time to prepare. Not to mention they were still arguing over who would retrieve Barry. Cisco and Caitlin had been working on some protective gear, so that whoever it was could enter the speedforce without disintegrating. Theoretically, Iris was going to go. But Wally argued that it should be him, since if the gear went down, he wouldn't be incinerated. Plus he had been in there before and knew what to expect. Joe didn't want either of them anywhere near danger and thought he should do it. Cisco wanted to go because he knew the gear and could fight off any possible defenses. Caitlin had rolled her eyes and glanced at Julian, who had a disgusted look on his face. He hated the senseless bickering even more than she did. The CSI finally snapped, stalking out of the room and stating if they needed him, they could call.

There were a few bright sides to all of this. Cisco and Leo were equally super annoying and super effective together. They bounced ideas off each other (or off themselves, technically) faster than Caitlin's brain could track, cutting the time needed to prep the speedforce bazooka in half. Leo was much better than Cisco at the mechanics of the machine, leaving Cisco to work out all the theoretical math. Not to mention that Cisco finally had someone who appreciated his nerdy references. Will was also a pleasant surprise. Not only did he provided medical support for the demigods, but his enthusiasm and continuous calm helped Caitlin be more effective. He had taken the task of restocking the medical wing to heart, adding some medications and equipment that Caitlin would never have thought of. He also added a small box with little yellow brownies and golden liquid. He had locked the box up and set it in a corner, Leo helpfully taping a note to the top that stated: Do Not Eat Unless You Want to Die a Horrible Death X╭╮X . That kid was weird.

A blast of air suddenly whooshed into the Star Labs cortex, causing the whole group to congregate by the computers. Wally dropped Percy to the ground (who didn't like the speedster method of travel, but couldn't walk to every crime scene) and started spitting out...feathers? Percy recovered first, shouting, "I'm done! I'm done with Central City. You have metahuman _chickens_. Who lay _explosive eggs_ ".

Caitlin frowned. "That is particularly unusual. Was it a human with chicken powers, or an actual chicken?"

"Actual chicken. That was eight feet tall". Wally was picking feathers out of his hair now, grimacing as soot and pieces of eggshell rained down on his face. "Argus took her, it, whatever, into custody. Lyla wasn't happy. She wants all of us to know that 'her prison isn't a damn zoo'".

Joe shrugged, "That's fair. She already has King Shark locked up in there".

"This great foe shall be known as: The Poutrotechnic! You know, poultry and pyrotechnic combined?" Cisco exclaimed dramatically, looking far too pleased with himself.

"The great citizens of Central City shall no longer live in fear of the great Chickenzilla!" Leo crowed, fistbumping Cisco.

Percy and Wally leveled scarily similar glares at the pair. Hazel and Frank took pity on Percy, laughing and whispering to themselves while helping pluck feathers from his hair. Joe did the same for Wally, muttering things about how weird this city was getting. "How are we looking on our timeline, guys?"

"Almost done. Just double checking the calculations and completing the construction of the new and modified speed force bazooka. I added some Vibe flair to it, which should help stabilize the breach enough to get Barry out". Cisco clicked around on the computer, pulling up the modifications. Caitlin nodded, noting the changes in energy flux. "None of those modifications should interfere with biomolecular regeneration".

"The biggest problem right now is navigation. I should be able to vibe my way there, but the speed force bazooka was a little...hmm...damaged in our last encounter with Savitar. And I'm smart and I have two of me basically, but even Leo and I together aren't as smart as Tracy Brand. We are going to have to guess a bit". Cisco admitted.

Annabeth piped in, "I have the Jewel of the Dead mostly figured out. Nico and Hazel have been helping fine tune its energy output. It's a lot of energy even when dormant, so Leo made a containment capsule. Everything else was detailed by our contacts. I will be ready by tomorrow. I just need to talk whoever is going in through the steps".

Caitlin sighed, jumping in before the inevitable argument could start. "I think that is the biggest issue so far. Will and I need to know who is going through to make modifications on the protective suit. And these idiot have been arguing about it for days and are no closer to a solution".

Wally crossed his arms, "We have an obvious solution. I'm going in".

"No you aren't. You've been stuck in there before, there is no way I'm letting you go back in. Or you, Iris". Joe glared at both his children, who instantly started arguing. Cisco had to chime in as well, "Oh no you don't. I designed this bad boy. I mean" he amended at Will and Caitlin's glares, "We designed this thing. I'm the one going in".

And the argument commenced once again. Percy's friends varied from amused (Clarisse and Leo) to extremely annoyed (Nico and Jason). Finally, as expected, Percy got in the middle. Thank goodness someone else was here to break up the fights. Caitlin was honestly willing to throw everyone in the pipeline and let them fight it out.

"Alright, break it up! This isn't helping Barry". Percy glared at all of them. "No more waffling. We need to make a decision right now. Otherwise we won't be ready. And there is an obvious choice". He paused, then said the last thing Caitlin ever expected, "I'm going in after Barry".

A moment of silence. Then, the eruption of protests from everyone in the room. Percy's friends weren't huge fans of the idea and Team Flash wasn't either. Joe, Wally, Iris, and Cisco argued their cases while Annabeth strode up and shook Percy a little, as if she could get him to change his mind. The rest of his friends jumped to their feet except Clarisse, who sat on the side and sharpened her sword with a wicked grin. Caitlin merley raised one eyebrow at Percy, who looked awfully determined.

The noise grew louder, the grinding dissonance of an orchestra tuning in different keys. Caitlin suddenly doubled over, feeling the icy-cold-pin-pricks that meant she was starting to lose control. Will steadied her with concern, ready to aid should she need it. The boy had nothing but good intentions, but he was not familiar with meta-humans or Killer Frost. Contact only made things worse. Caitlin gently shrugged him off and regained control, relieving her power's buildup by sending a blast of freezing air towards the whole group. Everyone stopped talking, the ends of their hair frosted like rooftops in winter. Caitlin took a moment to shove her powers away again, breathe slowly until she regained her balance, then accept a blanket from Will. "Arguing isn't helping. I thought that was clear before?" She turned to Percy, hand on her hip and her no nonsense face on. Time to end this. "I'm assuming you have a good reason for this. You want to share with the class?"

Percy nodded, "I'm familiar with Barry, but I'm not a speedster, so I'm not going to get trapped in there if the jewel doesn't work. I'm a demigod, so I have the greatest chance of using the mythological relic correctly. I can fight pretty much any threat that presents itself. But most importantly, this is my job. You guys have specifically been looking for _me_ to help get Barry back. Cisco said that he 'just knew' that I was the solution. He thought that meant Hestia, but what if that meant me? Because I think I have a solution to your navigation problem". He paused, everyone's attention on him. "When I went through the breaches between our earths, something was...off. At first I thought it was the surprise of being pulled through a breach abruptly; maybe I wasn't focusing enough? But no one else has been having problems, not even my friends who have never been through a breach before. It's like the multiverse was trying to...redirect me. I kept feeling energy pulling at me, trying to take me somewhere else. I think it was drawing me to Barry. If you can get me through the multiverse at the right frequency and with the jewel to replace Barry's cosmic energy, I can get him out". Caitlin could tell Percy was confident in his plan. From her point of view, it made a lot of sense.

"That's a big leap, from something feeling off to the multiverse is pushing you towards Barry". Annabeth gently scolded.

"I had a dream last night. From Hestia. I'm not looking for hope where there is none. This isn't my fatal flaw. Trust me Annabeth, I've got this". The daughter of Athena nodded slowly, eyes fixed on her boyfriend's. He met her gaze without hesitation. She must have found what she was looking for, because she nodded again and went to sit by Piper.

"What does a dream have to do with any of this?" Iris asked. "And what's a fatal flaw?"

"All demigods have a fatal flaw, a weakness that could be the death of you if you let it". Nico spoke suddenly from the corner of the cortex, everyone but Will jumping at his sudden comment. "And demigods, well, our dreams usually aren't just dreams. They might be premonitions, communication from the Olympians, or a glimpse of something happening elsewhere. Demigod dreams are not something to be taken lightly".

Team Flash still looked unconvinced, but thankfully for Caitlin's headache, they decided to let it go. Caitlin herself wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing. She really wanted to test the demigods' neurological functions during REM cycle. And she wasn't sure what Percy's fatal flaw had to do with anything, but she could tell it was a subject none of the demigods were eager to share. It didn't matter. Both questions would have to wait until they got Barry back. Beside her, Will backed into the medical wing. "I'll start prepping the safety suit to Percy's biological specifications".

Cisco nodded, "And removing the navigational element will save Leo and I some time". Leo spastically nodded in agreement, "Yeah, without all the Interstellar-esque physics, we should have the speed force bazooka ready in no time".

"What's Interstellar?" Cisco and Leo started back down the hall towards their workshop.

"You don't have that on this earth? Well, it's good but there is so much science in that. Like, I had no idea what was happening half the time..."

The group split up again, retreating to complete whatever project was next.

* * *

A day and a half later, the speed force bazooka and breach suit were ready to go. Annabeth had run through the instructions for the Jewel of the Dead about a hundred times with Percy, who dutifully nodded and repeated her instructions every time. Jason stood next to Annabeth, making Percy recite the overall plan almost as much as Annabeth was, prompting the son of the sea to roll his eyes and grumble, "Yes _mom_ ".

Caitlin and Will got him fitted in the safety suit, which was basically a filmy covering that locked in the necessary environmental specifications, monitored his vitals, and would (hopefully) protect against the speed force. Wally was on backup, ready to step in if something happened to the suit.

"Alright, final checks are green. Houston, we are ready to launch". Leo quipped, making note of the gauge readings from the control panel. Vibe was holding the speed force bazooka steady in the pipeline, right where they had returned Barry to the night of his mother's murder a couple years ago. "Ready to rumble".

Will gave Percy the thumbs up as he double checked his vitals. Percy planted a kiss on Annabeth's cheek and stepped up to Cisco. "Ready to get Barry back?"

"You betcha. May the speedforce be with you". Cisco flipped a switch on the speedforce bazooka, creating a super powered breach in the middle of the pipeline. Percy took a deep breath, then jumped through. Caitlin waited anxiously, reverting to the nervous habit of biting her nails as they waited. And waited.

"How long should it take?" Joe finally asked Cisco, who shrugged. "Could be 10 minutes. Could be an hour. Any longer than that and we have problems". So they waited some more, the demigods finding literally everything to fidget with while Team Flash stood silently, all closely watching the breach. Julian looked at the vitals and the gauges by Leo, nodded once, then went to sit against the wall. Leaving Will with the tablet, Caitlin sat by Julian. He turned to her with questioning eyes, but didn't say anything. Ten minutes passed with no changes. A moment later, Will walked over. "Spikes" he said quietly, gesturing to Percy's vitals. He was right, heart rate was spiking. Nothing out of control, but something was definitely happening over there. She nodded, and Will returned to his perch by Cisco and Leo. Another ten minutes passed.

Suddenly, a loud alarm broke the silence. Caitlin jumped up and joined Will and Cisco by the breach. Leo rushed to the control panel and started adjusting the speedforce bazooka. The monitor was flashing red as Percy's vitals grew out of control. High heart rate, blood pressure dropping, brain activity extremely high. Will fidgeted around with the tablet while the rest of the group moved forward to look at the screens. Caitlin sent out a controlled blast of frigid air, warning them away from the controls. The teams backed off and the four ignored everyone again, focusing on the problem at hand.

"Nothing life threatening, but spikes match with adrenalin". Caitlin muttered, showing Will. He nodded, but said, "I'm concerned about the level of brain activity. That's not normal".

"Especially given Percy's regular low levels of brain function". Leo joked, then grew serious again. "We have something approaching the breach. High energy. So either Percy is coming back with Barry or he's coming back with the jewel".

"Vitals dropping". Will listed off. The heart rate monitor suddenly flat-lined. "We have loss of pulse. No respiration detected. Activating defibrillator in the suit". Will pressed a button and the vitals spiked once, then flat lined again. "Increasing charge. Charging. Three, two, one, clear". The vitals spiked again, then returned to the flatline. Will swallowed nervously, glancing at Caitlin. "Picking up on minimal respiration, but I can't tell if he's actually breathing or something in his environment is causing it. Still no pulse. Can we risk another shock? Or should we try adrenalin? "

"Let me see". Something about this bothered Caitlin. She looked at the vitals, her mind whirring as she matched them to something she had seen many times before. "Hold off on the defibrillator and the adrenalin. I don't want to try either without physically seeing the situation. For all we know, we could have some weird temporal disruption in our technology".

Will raised an eyebrow at her, but trusted her call. Leo and Cisco worked furiously at the controls to stabilize the breach as two figures came through at high speeds. The two men fell to the floor about 100 meters from the breach, tangled together and gasping for air. Caitlin and Will rushed over, getting there before anyone else could investigate. Jason and Nico kept everyone away while the two medical professionals took stock of the situation. Will gently rolled Percy over, who was wet and struggling to breathe. But he was definitely alive. Confused, Caitlin turned to Barry, who sat on the ground with a dazed look. She went for a hug, but was stopped inches from his skin. Looking closer, she cursed crazy demigods. She patted the air by Barry's shoulder briefly, then left him to his fiance and adopted dad. Caitlin then turned back to Percy and slapped him in the face.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?!". Caitlin practically roared, the air around them turning very cold. "Barry's a speedster. He can survive the transition. You shouldn't be alive right now! And Will and I used the defibrillator in the suit because we thought you were dead! We thought you were both dead. Not that you had passed off the suit to a _speedster_ while _traveling through a breach in time and space!_ "

Percy rubbed the bright red handprint on his face. Caitlin felt bad for a second, though her fury quickly returned when she remembered the cause of her anger. Percy swallowed thickly and quietly replied, "Sorry, Caitlin. Barry was having troubles adjusting to his body again. He couldn't run like he usually does. I thought the suit would help. I had some water on hand, so I covered myself in that like it was the breach suit and hoped for the best". The demigod hesitated, having the grace to look embarrassed. "It sounded like a good idea at the time. And it worked. I just didn't think it through all the way".

"You never do, Seaweed Brain". Annabeth sounded just angry as Caitlin. Satisfied that the demigod would be thoroughly dressed-down, she turned back to Barry. The man was sitting in a puddle of water, shaking and staring into space. His hair was long and hung in his eyes. A scraggly beard was prominent on his chin and he looked a bit emaciated. She started making a mental list of what medical tests he needed. But there was only one thing that mattered right now. He was responsive. Barely, but he rested his head on his fiance's shoulder, eyes lighting up when he saw his ring still on her finger. Joe was quietly asking him yes or no questions, to which he responded with a head nod or shake. Caitlin jumped in, testing his pupils and asking a few questions of her own.

"Do you know where you are, Barry?".

A head nod.

"What Earth are we on?"

One finger held up. A questioning gaze, then a head nod. Good. He was confident in his answer now.

"Hey Flash! Glad to have you back. You could say it's _Barry_ good to see you". Cisco chuckled at his own joke, while Leo threw a twizzler at the back of his head. Apparently, even Leo had limits to the amount of stupid a joke could be. Barry rolled his eyes, the right corner of his lip curling up into a small smile. Caitlin sat back, the rest of her questions unimportant at the moment. Barry, while clearly not normal, at least was aware and functioning. That's really all she could ask for right now.

"In a few minutes, I want to run some tests". Caitlin gently removed the breach suit with Will's help, careful to watch for signs of distress. Barry nodded once, then looked over at Percy with one eyebrow raised. Cisco gave the speedster a quick summary as Wally and Joe helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, I got a little desperate for help. Some dude named Baron Katana came and caused all sorts of mayhem. Finally got through to Earth-12 and brought Percy and his friends here to help get you out of the speedforce". Barry gave a brief nod, then blinked at Iris a couple times.

"He's tired. Could we do your tests while he's sleeping?" Iris asked, walking with her family as they hobbled towards the elevator.

"Of course. Barry, if you don't mind, I'm going to give you a mild sedative to help your brain catch up". The speedster nodded his consent, then looked back at Percy's team, who were packing up the machines and taking turns berating Percy. Clarisse in particular seemed to be having fun, poking the demigod with the butt of her spear. Percy shoved her away and gave Barry a little wave as the group left the pipeline. They were silent in the lift, exhaustion and relief radiating from everyone.

" 'illan?" Barry finally croaked out, looking at Joe questioningly.

"No, we put Barron Katana away with Annabeth and Percy's help. So take a breather, Bar. We've got this". Joe gently set his adopted son down on a medical cot as Caitlin loaded the sedative into a syringe. She gently administered it, making sure to broadcast her actions before she followed through. In seconds, the scarlet speedster was fast asleep, and IV directing thousands of calories into his system and medical machinery gently humming in the background.

* * *

Elsewhere, the Thinker breathed in deeply. Finally. The Flash was home. "The prodigal son returns" he breathed to himself, murmuring so the others wouldn't overhear. "Welcome home, Barry Allen. Let's begin".


	7. Breathe In, Breathe Out

**Hey friends. The Barry chapter, as promised. Just a PSA; it's the holiday season. That means traveling, social engagements, and finals. So this will be the last "regular" (even though it's coming a week late) update until the new year. I'm going to do some editing (because some typos managed to slip past me the first time) and am hoping to get one more chapter up before Christmas. But it won't be until after finals.**

 **Someone asked a question about Barry's return in the previous chapter. Just as a reminder, I had the whole story outlined in September, so this will not be following the current season of the Flash. I did this to avoid possible spoilers for season 4 and because I am not watching the Flash season 4 in real time. I'll be catching up over Christmas break though, so if anyone wants to talk season 4, you are more than welcome to PM me about it. I hope that answers any questions about my divergence from canon.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one.**

* * *

The world was spinning. The world wasn't supposed to spin. At least Barry thought it wasn't. However, he also thought that the world was filled with other people and he was wrong about that. Wind whipped Barry's hair as he jogged through Central City. The sensation of vertigo finally forced him to slow to a jog as he reached an abandoned hot dog stand near the riverfront. Sighing, he snatched a water bottle from the ice chest inside. The minute he removed it, another bottle appeared in its place. His first morning here, that alone made him spiral out of control. Because that wasn't supposed to happen. Right? Or was it? Just the thought of it now was threatening to send him into a tailspin that he couldn't afford. Not right now...

Stop thinking. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat. Focus on the facts.

Fact: His name was Barry Allen.

Fact: He was the Flash.

Fact: He was trapped in the speedforce. Which wasn't the real world? Maybe it was another earth? No, don't speculate. Focus.

Fact: He was in Central City. He was here to meet with it. He _hated_ meeting with it.

"Barry?"

Speak of the devil. Barry stiffened and took a sip of his water before turning around. It required all his self control to walk over to the bench where he knew it was waiting. He didn't look at it as he sat down, intentionally leaving a foot of space between them.

"Barry, you must stop. I'm here to help you, not hurt you". The voice was Henry's, but Barry knew it wasn't him.

Because fact: His father was dead.

"Then why won't you let me leave?"

Henry-not-Henry sighed, crossing his arms just like his dad had when Barry was ornery. But it wasn't him. It wasn't. He had to remember that. The thing was speaking again, "...we could have left you in the trap. Did you want that, Barry? Do you want to go back to a slideshow of your worst memories? Your greatest failures?"

A monster's claw was impaling the real Henry Allen, pulling him to the one place Barry couldn't follow. A girl with a name as cold as the ice she wielded striding through a dark forest towards her prey. Water rushing towards the city, Barry running faster than he thought possible to stop that terrible future. A man with glasses standing up from a wheelchair, Barry's heart sinking with dread and burning with anticipation of retribution. Barry's back snapping like a twig, his enemy parading him around his city like marionette with its strings cut. A beautiful woman dying on the street in winter. A black cocoon, pulsing and keeping him from his brother trapped inside. The crushing realization that he had done it again, he had trusted and he had been burned by a man who he called friend...and then it was him, he had betrayed himself. Another woman, mother, surrounded in a halo of menacing light...

"Barry. Don't go back there. It's alright, you're safe now. We brought you out. We're keeping you safe".

Barry continued to rock back and forth, but removed his hands from his head. A few chunks of hair were caught between his fingers. He stared at the brown hair as it drifted away on a breeze, momentarily taking his insanity with it. Looking up, he saw the one man who would make everything better. "Dad?"

Henry smiled, "Hey Slugger. You okay?"

Barry frowned. He thought he wasn't. But why wouldn't he be? He was here with his dad, in the park on a nice summer afternoon. "Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure what happened".

His dad smiled patiently. "It doesn't matter, son. You want to take a walk around the park? See if we can finally beat the frisbee golf course?"

Barry frowned. "I'm actually kinda tired. Was I running?"

"No. We were just getting some water at the hot dog stand. You were telling me all about your latest case. Something about a guy who drowned in honey?" When he didn't respond, Henry probed him again. "You feeling okay, Barry?"

"Yeah. I just feel like I was running. I kinda feel like I'm running now. Like I've never stopped running".

His dad snorted and offered him a hand. Barry took it gratefully and stretched his legs once he was clear of the bench. "Okay, Shakespeare. Let's not get melodramatic. That's okay, we can play frisbee golf next time. Anyways, didn't you have something to do this afternoon?"

Barry frowned. Yes, he did. What was it? Right, the case! How could he have forgotten? He hugged his dad goodbye and walked off in the direction of the CCPD. A few blocks and an elevator later, Barry was sitting at his desk, pouring over autopsy reports and testing samples of honey. He hummed to music only he could hear and danced around the lab. He laughed at...something. He wasn't sure what, but it was _hilarious_.

And all around him, the world was still. No traffic, no pedestrians, no change in seasons, and no night. Caught in a diorama of life outside the speedforce, populated only by people and events of Barry's own making. The thing smiled as he took one last look at Barry Allen, then left. Its work here was done. For now.

* * *

Barry was breathing hard. He took a slight left on the path, knowing it would lead to the hot dog stand with the water. Wait. How did he get here? The realization hit him like a dump truck. He had failed again. He really thought he was out this time. Barry's mind wandered as he continued to jog down the path. He knew it was a mistake, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't stop running.

"Good morning...I'll have the reports to you in an hour...no you don't have to watch me work, I'll get them done". He muttered to himself, his jog more of a granny shuffle at this point. Shaking his head, he realized he wasn't at work anymore. His mind had slipped away again.

" _Damn_ it!" Barry stopped shuffling to kick at a bush, wincing when a bur poked through the top of his shoe. Every time! Every time he went to meet with the speed force, to ask, demand, _beg_ it let him go back home, he was rerouted. Every. Single. Time.

Focus. Breathe in. Breathe out. List the facts. List them. Don't think about anything else. Don't look at the speed force. Don't get distracted.

The problem was that the list kept getting shorter and shorter and shorter. Because he was Barry Allen, and he thought he was the fastest man alive. Or was that a dream? His dad told him it was a dream. Of course it was, no one could run that fast and live...

He stopped by the hot dog stand, swiping a bottle of water. This time, he didn't even notice as the container filled itself back up. What was he doing in the park? He was supposed to be working on his report. It would take him thirty minutes to get back to CCPD, then another hour for the tests to run. His reports would be late, Singh would fire him, then he would be homeless and left to wander on the street. How could this have happened?

Wait.

Captain Singh wasn't even here. But wasn't he talking to him?

No.

He was talking to himself. Focus. Breathe in, breathe out.

Flashes of light. A female meta, shot and about to explode. A glowing rock, the philosophers stone. White silk adorning the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, flowers garnishing the aisle. A top hat, glowing and spinning round and round and round. A crib blown apart in a white room, the baby crying in his arms and Barry was angry, furious, wanted to...

Eat. Hungry. But there were never hot dogs at the stand. Only water.

"Barry?"

No. Don't look. This is your chance. Focus.

"I want to go home".

He could feel the figure coming closer and beckoning him towards a bench. No. Not this time. Maybe it was the bench. Because when he sat down, next thing he knew he was running through the park again.

His father's voice chuckled. "Barry, son, you are home. Stop this nonsense and sit down. Take a load off".

Barry shook his head and covered his ears. "No, I'm not home. I'm stuck...somewhere. I want to go home. To Iris and Joe. To the others".

"To Iris and Joe? You would rather be with your friends than your own _father_? What if something happened to me? How would you feel then?"

Barry lowered his hands. "I would be crushed. I would say screw it to the world and do everything in my power to change things. You know how I know this? Because it already happened". A moment of silence as Barry's memories finally returned to him. "And you were the one who killed him".

Nothing. Pure silence. Just Barry's breathing. Then, "Not exactly, but close, Flash. But it no longer matters. You must stay here. It is the only place safe".

Barry barked out a hollow laugh of disbelief. "Keep me safe? When have you ever wanted to keep me safe?"

"You misunderstand, Flash. It is the only place the multiverse is safe from _you_ ".

What? From himself? What is it talking about? Barry never... _oh_. Flashpoint. Savitar. Right.

"This body used to be Zoom. I assume that is who you are referring to. But I am not him, Barry. I am the speedforce's enforcer, the Black Flash. It is my job to regulate speedsters. And you broke the rules". His dead father shifted closer to Barry, radiating tension. "However, your actions last year swayed the rest of the speedforce in your favor. Which is the only reason you are in a replica of Central City instead of the speed force trap _you_ created".

Robots attacking Central City. A teenager, bled dry as Zoom laughed and laughed. A man in yellow, his brother, broken after time in the trap Barry created. Running through dense forest, heart pumping and adrenaline rushing...a golden man on a golden horse...hands slowly cracking, frost filling the gaps between the skin... _I'm thinking_...alarms blaring through a concrete corridor...the sinking feeling of _I should have known_...time and space bending and folding until nothing exists anymore.

"Stop. Stop. I want to go home". Cover your ears, Barry. Don't listen, don't look. You're not there. None of this is real.

"Barry, son. I need you calm down. You are home".

"I want to go home" Barry whispered one last time, fighting against the insanity but losing the battle as he started to look up at his father...

"You heard the man. Vacation's over".

And suddenly, a teenager with dark hair and bright green eyes was glaring at his father...at _it_ venomously. The kid was standing in front of a glowing multicolored circle, a swirling path behind it leading out of here. Freedom. His glare then turned on Barry and instantly softened into concern. A familiar expression. Barry knew him, he was an ally. Preston, Peter, no, _Percy_. "Ready to go, Barry?"

He nodded. He was very ready to go. He slowly walked over to Percy, keeping an eye on the Black Flash the whole time. "He's not just going to let me go".

The son of the seas glanced at Barry with amusement. "It's all good, Flash. I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse".

"Glad to know the Godfather is a staple of the multiverse". Barry muttered, preparing for a fight if needed. He was tired, so tired, but his mind was clearer than it had been in a while.

The Black Flash chuckled without humor, "What can you possibly offer me, _boy_?"

"I heard what you were saying earlier. Broke the rules, has to stay here, blah blah blah. I kinda tuned out after a while. Dude, your villain monologues are _boring_. Anyways, you forgot to give Barry his phone call. So I decided to drop by in person and pay bail". The demigod reached behind his back and pulled out a metal sphere. Barry could feel the energy pulsing off of it, though it was contained in whatever contraption Cisco whipped up. This thing was powerful, so very powerful.

"That's not how this works. A speedster must occupy the space. That was the deal when the trap was formed". Henry Allen's face slipped away as the thing grew taller, red lightning whirling around his form. A contorted version of the Flash suit emerged, half the mask torn off to reveal the rotting flesh beneath. The Black Flash. "He cannot leave".

Percy had a mildly nauseous look on his face as he swallowed hard. Barry could see him tighten his grip on something rectangular and metal. "Jeez, dude. You should have stuck with the middle aged man look. Don't you know that zombies went out of style last year?"

The Black Flash merely roared, then lunged forward and grabbed Barry by the shirt, pulling him back further and further from his escape. He clawed at the dirt, trying in vain to fight back but he was losing ground and where was his speed why couldn't he run...

 _Shnick!_ A shining silver sword sliced through his shirt, freeing him. Taking advantage, he scrambled back behind Percy as the Black Flash shrieked. The demigod settled into a defensive stance and motioned for Barry to move towards the breach. "Come on, World War Z. Let's tango".

Barry didn't look back. But he could hear the telltale whoosh of the Black Flash running and the surge of water rushing to meet him. Percy shouted in defiance behind him, trying to trap the Black Flash in a ball of water like he had to Barry when they first met. But the Black Flash was composed of the speed force and had learned from Barry's experiences. He wouldn't be caught by that again. When the water surrounded him, he phased into the ground then over, popping back up a few paces from the water.

"That's new". Percy muttered, recalling the water to himself and surrounding them. "Can you help out?"

Barry shook his head. "No, something's off".

"Well that's just fantastic". Percy muttered. "Alright, hold this". The demigod shoved the glowing shiny energy thing. Barry fumbled for it, not knowing if the containment system would protect the energy source from clumsy speedsters. Looking down on it, Barry had the distinct feeling he had never held anything so powerful in his entire life. "What is this?"

"Don't worry about it. Just hold on and don't go through the portal yet". Percy was manipulating the water with ease, forming it into a series of mini cyclones that were keeping the Black Flash back for the moment. "Keep moving! This isn't going to work for long".

Barry agreed. The Black Flash would find a way around him in a minute. He picked up the pace. Because he was not getting stuck in here again.

Just as Barry reached the breach, he heard a grunt of pain from behind him. Percy didn't slow down, but Barry could see that the Black Flash had gotten in a hit. Blood streaked the sleeve of his left arm, flecks splattering the Black Flash anytime Percy attacked.

"Barry! The jewel! It's in a protective casing". Percy paused for a moment to fill the Black Flash's mouth with water, shouting: "You look dehydrated. Got to get some fluids in you!" The demigod then turned back to Barry. "Turn the top three times clockwise".

Barry followed the instructions, turning the top of the glass-like casing thrice. "Done! Now what?"

The demigod surrounded the Black Flash in water so he couldn't use his full speed. "Pull up on the top. You should now see a small groove. There's little black switch, like the off switch on the bottom of a kids toy. Flip that, then press the red button next to it".

As soon as Barry did this, a quiet ticking sound steadily came from the device. "Umm, Percy? Did I just set a bomb?"

Percy laughed as he attempted to slice the Black Flash's hamstrings. "Of course not! It's just an ancient Egyptian artifact that when released will destroy everything within 100 meters". The demigod paused, dodging his enemy's claws again. "You know what, yeah, it's basically a bomb. Just get ready to move".

Percy gathered more water around him, creating one large hurricane that battered the Black Flash back. He then moved his hands closer together, gathering every drop of the water between his hands into a super compact sphere. "Hey ugly! Catch!" The demigod released the sphere with a flick of his wrist. Several tons of water hit the Black Flash in the chest and pushed him into the river. Barry could see the water wrapping around the speedster's limbs as he screeched his way to the bottom of the river. Percy brushed off his hands, then walked over to Barry. "I won't be able to hold him there for long, but we only need 30 seconds. Give me the jewel".

Barry gratefully handed the explosive gem to Percy. The demigod put his hands on either side and started chanting something that sounded like...well, mostly like gibberish to Barry. But it must have meant something because the sphere started to glow even more. With one final sentence, the sphere was carefully deposited on the ground outside the breach. Percy slapped his right shoulder, a gossamer coating covering him. A metal smartwatch gleamed on his wrist as the demigod carefully monitored the time. He paused to grab a water bottle from the hot dog stand and stuff it in his pocket. Percy stepped through the breach, but held out his hand to stop Barry from following. "Hold on, we have to time this right. If we mess this up, it'll probably destroy both us and Central City. Worst of all, I would never hear the end of it from Annabeth. And when you count the Underworld, she could literally lord this over me for eternity".

Barry thought Percy's priorities were a bit off, but he would appreciate not destroying the city he worked so hard to save. So he stood perfectly still, waiting for the word from the demigod. Finally, Percy looked up from the watch and fingered a button on the band.

"On my count, jump through the breach. 5...4...3...2..1...NOW!"

Barry didn't hesitate, leaping through the glowing circle just as the sphere behind him cracked open. He didn't hear an explosion, but could feel the surge of energy as soon as he cleared the breach. Percy grabbed his arm and pushed a button on his watch, the breach closing behind them. They were traveling fast, really fast, through the multiverse. This felt different than when Cisco or Barry went through the multiverse. They could actually see things on the sides of their multicolored tunnel. Some of them were other earths. There was a particularly nasty looking place. His speedster abilities may be a bit wonky right now, but he definitely knew that was Earth-X and he should never go there. There were also glimpses of the past, some he recognized and others he didn't. Given the monsters and the people in them, he figured they were Percy's memories. And then, well, he saw some things that confused him. If you asked him later, he wouldn't remember what he saw. But he knew it was the future. And it scared him.

"Barry! Barry, I need you to breathe. You're not breathing, and you're face is getting all blue and wrinkly. You look like a smurf. It's not a good look on you. Barry!" Percy was yelling at him, but Barry couldn't answer. His throat had swelled shut, his brain was _melting_. Focus, Barry. Breathe in, breathe out. But he couldn't breathe at all. Heart racing, Barry clawed at his throat and tried to convey to Percy that _he was freaking dying here, do something_! Percy seemed to get the message, hesitating for a minute before yelling at Barry to run. But Barry was running, he had been the whole time he was in the speedforce. As they got closer to earth, Barry could feel himself slowing down and solidifying. Everything was moving in slow motion, like when he was running fast. But he was standing still, and couldn't save himself from the effects of the breach tunnel. All he could do was float there and watch his hands crack slowly, filling the gaps between the skin with icy frost.

He shook his head, causing Percy to mutter uncomplimentary things about science, the multiverse, and his own sanity. The demigod seemed to come to a decision, grabbing the water in his right hand and reaching for his shoulder with the left. Barry realized what Percy was doing in an instant and tried to argue, but he couldn't move anymore. The son of the sea took a deep breath, then ripped what looked like a giant metal pin off his shirt while simultaneously bursting the water bottle. The water slowly moved to cover the now blue demigod as he shakily pinned the metal to Barry's shoulder, then activated it. At first, Barry thought nothing had happened. But suddenly he could breathe again. He greedily gulped oxygen, noticing that Percy had covered himself with the water. While the demigod was a little pale, he was no longer blue and was breathing the water normally. Or, at least as normal as a person breathing water could be.

Barry could see the end of the breach approaching. Suddenly, he was electrocuted. Yup, electrocuted. Just add it to the list of reasons why this day was awful. He shook it off, rubbing his head through the suit and focused on the end of the breach. But then, he was hit again by electricity. The suit, Barry realized. His friends were activating a defibrillator. Percy grabbed his shoulder, checked that he was okay, then pulled him closer to their earth. Finally, in a burst of light and energy, the pair were spit out on the floor of the particle accelerator.

Barry couldn't remember much after that. He knew that Caitlin was angry at Percy for some reason, that Joe and Iris were fussing over him. He nodded and interacted as best he could, but his throat was so raw that the best he could do was the sputter a slurred "villain?" at Joe. Reassured that his family wasn't in immediate danger from a homicidal super villain, he decided to take his first nap in...well...however long he had been in the speedforce.

* * *

 _He was jogging through the Central City park, stopping at a hot dog stand for some water. He did this every morning, the routine feeling equally comfortable and restrictive. Glancing around at the other joggers, he sat next to his father on a park bench._

" _Barry, you have no idea what you've done". Henry Allen was upset. Barry wasn't sure why. He wasn't late, they met here every week. What could he have done? After asking that much, his father responded, "You left, Barry. Replaced yourself with a trinket, one that has been lost for centuries"._

 _He scrunched his forehead, confused. "I'm right here, dad. What trinket? What are you talking about?"_

 _His father stood up, clearly perturbed at his son. "I took you out of there! I gave you peace, tranquility, knowledge. And you left anyways. I will not sent our hunter after you, Barry Allen. But you will wish I had before the end". Henry Allen then walked away, ignoring Barry's cries of confusion and dismay._

" _Dad! Don't go, wait for me!" But Barry couldn't move, his feet were trapped. The more he struggled, the deeper he fell into the dirt until it was up to his neck and covering his face..._

" _Barry!" Someone appeared next to him. She looked familiar. But she wasn't helping him, was taking his father away from him. He had to stop her._

 _An arm broke free of the restrictive dirt. He swung wildly, connecting with another person next to him. Struggling with all the energy he had, he freed his other arm, and then his legs. He climbed out of the dirt and ran._

" _He shouldn't be up yet! He's going to hurt himself!"_

 _Strong hands stopped him, holding him in place. "Barry! Stop! I'm trying to keep you safe!"_

 _No. No, no, no. He was back. The speed force was still here, restraining him, trying to keep him from going home. It couldn't have him, it couldn't. So he reared his head back and rammed it into the person in restraining him. He tried to use his speed, but he only got about 100 meters until his body gave out. No. They couldn't keep him here. He would crawl out if he had to. Just keep moving. Towards the elevator. Get out. Get out. Get out._

A smack on his face made the world around him spin. A scary looking girl was standing in front of him, blocking his way. _Lightning. Red. Death and war. War and peace make final stand. All..._

Something entered his arm through his bruised skin. Slowly, his mind cleared. Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus. List the facts.

He's in Star Labs, by the elevator. Judging by the trail of sweat he left behind him, he came from the cortex. Probably the medical wing. The scarily fierce girl is still in front of him, Caitlin and a blonde girl to his left. Wally is trying to get him to his feet on the right, while Iris helps a boy with startlingly blonde hair juggle a plethora of bottles and needles. And behind him...

"Percy?" The demigod grins as Barry tentatively pokes him. Real. Too many people here to be the speed force. He really is out.

"Hey man? Decide to stop the runaway patient routine?" The demigod looks tired, his arm wrapped in white bandages. And his nose is bleeding. Great. He must have been who was restraining Barry. He winced and gestured to the demigod's nose. "Sorry about that".

"No worries. Its minor enough that water should fix it right up. You know where you are?"

Barry nodded. He grinned at Wally and gave Iris a hug, then apologized profusely to Caitlin, who quickly waved him off. "Disorientation is perfectly normal, Barry. I just wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon".

"Yeah, we thought you would sleep for at least 12 more hours. We gave you lots and lots of the really good drugs". The blonde haired boy finally managed to extract a hand from his load of medication and stuck it out to Barry. "Will Solace. Son of Apollo and camp medic". Son of who now? Barry raised one eyebrow at Percy, who shrugged. "Your friends came to get me, figured you could use all the help you could get. Girl in front of you is Clarisse, daughter of Ares. Next to Caitlin is Annabeth, daughter of Athena and my girlfriend. She helped with the jewel that..."

Barry wasn't listening anymore, his mind fixed on the familiar blonde. Annabeth. He was certain he had never met her, and yet...

"Barry? Barry, you okay?" That was Caitlin, a concerned hand resting on his jaw. She was trying to get him to look at her, but he kept staring at the daughter of Athena. Finally, he whispered in a voice that didn't sound like his own, " _Wisdom's daughter walks alone. The Mark of Athena burns through Rome"._ Turning to Percy, he felt the same urge to speak come over him, stating, " _A son of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds"._

Those comments got a reaction from the demigods around him, but he wasn't done yet. Turning back to Annabeth, he murmured, " _Wisdom's daughter caught in webs. When intellect fails, sanity ebbs"._

His breathed heavily for a moment, then his mind cleared. Everyone around him was looking like he had grown horns. "What?"

"Jeez man, what's with the exorcist routine?" That would be Cisco, who nearly dropped a half-finished drone. "If you're going to get all creepy, I'm going to start carrying around holy water".

Then, there was another, younger Cisco standing next to him. Barry blinked, wondering if he was seeing double or hallucinating. The double looked much more serious than Cisco, though it didn't look like that expression was often on his face. "Dude" he turned to Percy with concern, "I think your speedster friend just spouted a prophecy. Is that normal?"

Percy shook his head, glancing at Will. "No. Not normal at all".

Great. This day was off to a fantastic start. As everyone looked at him with suspicion and concern, Barry forced himself not to panic. They would figure this out. He was home now. Stop panicking. Focus. Breathe in, breathe out.

* * *

In the maximum security wing of Iron Heights, the prisoners were fast asleep. All except for one. He hummed quietly to himself as he carefully carved his mantra, the focus of his life, into the floor. Using a screw from his bed, he ignored the dark red dripping from his shredded hands as he admired his work. Satisfied, Baron Katana washed his hands mechanically and then slipped into bed. Below him, the meticulously carved words stood out against the darkness:

 _Earths bane hides in sight,_

 _Gateway and guide will find the light._

 _Upon this steel vision builds his church,_

 _Half dozen gone, then starts the search._

 _Wisdom's daughter caught in webs,_

 _When intellect fails, sanity ebbs,_

 _War and peace make final stand_

 _All elements rage and death is at hand._


	8. Ring Around the Rogues Gallery

**Merry Christmas (early) friends! Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

When Percy started having adventures through the multiverse, he thought the time of prophecies was over. Now, Barry Allen was spouting prophecy like Rachel Dare. Or, more like Ella since he only had fragments. Either way, it was creepy and annoying. Not that it was Barry's fault.

The Flash was safely tucked into a med-room cot at the moment, being pumped full of nutrients, antibiotics, and "the good drugs". Annabeth was holding a war council in cortex, complete with a white board and pizza. Because no war council was complete without pizza.

Joe and Julian were eying the horde of demigods with concern as they inhaled large quantities of food. Wally on the other hand heartily joined in, consuming 4 boxes of pizza by himself. Percy didn't really care what Team Flash thought. It wasn't like he was concerned about his figure or anything. All he cared about was that this pizza was _good_. Only thing that could make it better would be a blue Coke. Annabeth's voice finally drew his attention away from his food as she slowly wrote the two lines of prophecy Barry had spouted on the board.

"And how do you know it's a prophecy again?" Caitlin questioned as she switched out two of Barry's IV bags.

"Because he quoted some other prophecy verbatim". Annabeth was eager to answer questions, Percy could tell. She was in her element here. "While looking at the person it referred to. _A son of the elder gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds_. That was about Percy, given to the camp after World War II and fulfilled a little over 3 years ago now. _Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome_. That was a prophecy about me fulfilled 2 years ago during the Giant War. Barry's speaking prophecy, believe me. We know it when we hear it".

Percy read Annabeth's neat handwriting on the board, " _Wisdom's daughter caught in sewb..."_

"Webs" Annabeth gently corrected. Percy squinted a bit and continued, " _When intellect fails,_ niftys _..._ no, _sanity ebbs_. That's not at all ominous. I like my sanity thank you very much". Though it was concerning, he didn't mention Annabeth's part in that prophecy. She wouldn't appreciate looking weak in front of the group (and would accordingly pummel Percy into the ground to prove otherwise). Piper interrupted his morose train of thought by jesting.

"You would have to have sanity to begin with to lose it". She smirked as she opened another box and flicked the pizza saver at Percy's face. He batted it aside and stuck out his tongue at her, ignoring his girlfriend's eye roll.

"There's obviously more. I've never heard of a prophecy that was only two lines" Jason noted, biting his thumbnail absently. "I don't like not knowing the whole thing".

"Welcome to Greek prophecies. You always know half of what you need to and understand nothing of what you have".

Hazel sent a lazy grin his way, "Of course our Roman prophecy was simple but hardly helpful in any sense. _Go to Alaska. Unchain Thanatos. Be back by June 24th or die_. Thanks for that, Mars".

Frank grimaced, "Yeah, my dad doesn't win any awards for best godly parent. Of course, he definitely doesn't take last place either".

"Wait, Thanos? Like the big purple infinity stone guy in the Avengers?" Cisco questioned, looking much more interested.

"No, _Thanatos._ Reaper of souls, Lieutenant of Hades. Wait, that's who the guy in the end credit scenes is? Man, how many more movies to you all have? Some movie called Guardians of the Galaxy is set to come out next on our Earth" Leo attempted to question Cisco about their version of the MCU.

"Anyways" Annabeth sent everyone a glare that said they were annoying children. Which they were but still, rude. "Back on topic. I think the greatest problem right now is that a metahuman from another earth is suddenly spouting prophecy like the Oracle. I mean, even she hasn't been giving prophecies since the Giant War began".

"Why not?" Iris asked, her journalistic instincts telling her there was a story here. But Annabeth just waved her off, "Another time. Caitlin, have there been any changes in Barry's brain functions?"

The doctor-turned-meta shook her head, "No, nothing unusual". She swallowed tightly and returned to her tablet. Annabeth moved on, asking Joe and Iris questions while Cisco and Leo argued about comic book movies. Percy glanced at Caitlin. Her face was mostly hidden by her long curly hair, but it wasn't enough to hide the scrunched up expression Percy associated as her thinking face. Curious, he glanced at Will. Turning at the weight of Percy's stare, the son of Apollo trotted over with a datapad when Percy inclined his head in a "please come over here" sort of way. Percy slid over to meet him in his delightful swivel chair to face the son of Apollo. "Looking at Barry's brain waves right now, is there anything similar to Rachel's or Ella's?"

Will shook his head slowly. "No, everything is perfectly normal. For Barry at least".

Percy thought again, remembering the trippy path through the multiverse, "What about during our trip back to Earth-1? When I put the suit on him?"

Will thought for a moment, then grabbed his datapad. "Yeah, it was wonky. We thought it was your brain waves, that your mind was just working in overdrive. At what point did you give him the suit?"

"About half way back".

Will pulled up Barry's normal EKG readings and compared them to the ones in the suit. "Holy Hephaestus" the son of Apollo muttered, connecting dots that Percy couldn't even see, "You're right. This was fairly normal on your scale of brain activity, but compared to Barry's it is just downright weird. Were you seeing things when returning?"

Percy couldn't really remember, which bothered him more than he wanted to let on. But he was certain there were images in the path between the speedforce and Earth-1. "Yeah. I can't really remember what they were, but..."

"Ahem". Crap. Annabeth was glaring at them, one hand on her hip and an exasperated expression on her face. "Something you want to share, Percy?"

He gave her his best crap-eating grin, "Nope. But Will does".

And that earned him a death glare from the son of Apollo. Great, Will needed to stop hanging out with Nico. It was just weird to see that facial expression on the constantly cheery demigod. But a moment later the glare was gone, replaced by childish excitement. "Maybe. I want to check this over with Caitlin first". He handed her the tablet, indicating to the unusual activity. "Is this what I think it is?"

Caitlin's expression lit up, thinking face gone in an instant. "Of course. Our earth's technology and Earth-12's mystical navigation elements created a unique trip through the multiverse. He could have seen things on the way back. Not to mention any lasting remnants from being in the speedforce".

Annabeth cleared her throat, "I'm not sure that Hestia had anything to do with it. If she was providing the navigation, she has nothing to do with prophecies. That's Apollo's domain". The daughter of Athena turned to look at Will, "You think this had anything to do with your dad?"

The demigod shook his head, "No, he's been out of touch since the Giant War. Probably on whatever punishment Zeus cooked up. This isn't him".

Caitlin deflated a bit, pouring over the datapad as if it held the secrets to the universe. Maybe it did. You never knew with Star Labs.

Cisco frowned, "What about the speedforce? Could he have gained the knowledge from his time in there?" When the rest of the group looked at him in confusion, he huffed and explained, "Speedsters can go forward or backwards in time. The speedforce exists outside of time and space". Annabeth was nodding in agreement, eyes already alight with understanding. "The speedforce trap forces you to relive your worst moments. It's not unlikely that speedsters might be able to see glimpses of the future while in there".

Annabeth slowly nodded, "So perhaps Barry isn't giving prophecies, but reciting them from some later date. Or the past".

Cisco nodded, "That would make sense. Maybe..." The meta was interrupted by an alarm blaring through the cortex. Pushing his chair to the computers, Cisco put down his soda and clicked on the flashing icon. "Um guys, we have a problem. Like, a 'the raptors can open doors' problem".

The main screen in the cortex blared to life, showing real-time CCTV footage on the left and the Star Labs satellite footage on the right.

"Schist!" Percy was already up and moving, grabbing his sword from the table and motioning to Wally, who had already suited up. "Let's go before it's too late to put the genie back in the bottle".

"What is going on? Is that a prison?" Jason questioned from the monitors.

"Yeah, the meta wing" Joe dialed a number on his cellphone and checked his gun.

"You'll need help". Annabeth's tone left no room for disagreement. The rest of the demigods concurred, grabbing their ever-present weapons.

"Yes, we do" Percy jumped in before anyone else could. "Cisco, could you get them outfitted with mortal steel and then send them through a breach?"

"I'm not a weapons manufacturer" the engineer grumbled before waving Percy on, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I can find something".

With backup lined up, Percy gestured to Kid Flash, who was already outfitted and read to go. "All aboard the Banana Train".

"You're hilarious" Wally grumbled, grabbing Percy and streaking through the streets of Central City faster than even Percy's hyperactive brain could comprehend. Finally, Wally skidded to a stop next to Iron Heights.

The entire area was chaos, with only two prison guards still moving and seven metas wreaking havoc. Percy recognized Baron Katana, and turned to Wally right before he ran off. "Slow down, Kid Flash. I need some information on these people before I jump into a fight".

Wally grudging obliged, stating the facts almost quicker than Percy could comprehend, "Molecula. Can change the vibration frequency of molecules. Weather Wizard. Self-explanatory. Trickster, likes bombs and explosives and is generally just really weird. Mirror Master and Top. She can give you vertigo just by looking at her, he can walk through mirrors. Last but not least, Peek-a-Boo. She teleports". And with that the speedster was off, making a beeline for Peek-a-Boo as she teleported around the guards. "Hurry up Cisco" Percy muttered under his breath before breaking the windows on the prison building just as Mirror Master made to get away. He then had to duck an explosive paper airplane (how?!) from Trickster, while launching himself at Baron Katana before a guard became a kabob.

"Hey Robo-Ninja. I was hoping we wouldn't meet again for a very long time". He parried the guy's deceptively heavy katana, having to step back a bit.

"Oh but I was expecting _you_ , Perseus".

Okay. Weird. Percy decided to ponder this later as he barely avoided a table thrown by Weather Wizard. He had to keep moving: duck Top's gaze, avoid mirrors, oh look, there's Peek-A-Boo punching him in the face, block katana coming at leg, run around Molecule's weird energy field. Repeat. The cycle halted when Weather Wizard started a tornado in the middle of the prison yard, forcing Percy to back. Great. The sky, Percy's greatest enemy (behind math tests, monsters, and Great Prophecies of course). Something he couldn't combat. Luckily, he didn't have to. The tornado disappeared as quickly as it began.

"You call that a tornado?" Jason rose into the air behind Percy, winds dancing between his fingers and eyes lit with electricity. "Try this on for size!". And with that, Percy's greatest problem was taken care of. An arrow flew over his shoulder, trapping Peek-a-Boo's shirt to the nearby wall before she could teleport away. Clarisse and Nico launched themselves at her as she ripped the arrow out of her shirt. Top was currently treating Mirror Master to a trip down vertigo lane courtesy of Piper while Cisco watched her back, Frank and Leo contained Molecula, Annabeth and Wally outmaneuvered Trickster, and that left Hazel and Percy with Baron Katana. Percy took the heavy swordplay, trusting Hazel to slow down the blows when they were too much. She once made it look like they were falling off a skyscraper, keeping a firm hold on Percy to ground him as the Baron lurched and fell to the ground. Other times she just used the mist to pull back his blows, trapped his legs with copper wires, or step in with her spatha when necessary. Percy's vision tunneled, focusing only on blocking each swipe and stab of the katana while trying to get a hit in himself. The Baron's katana gave him greater reach, the thin sword whipping back and forth in precise motions almost faster than Percy's eyes could follow. That made it very difficult to take the offensive. Not to mention a button on the side of the Baron's hilt created an energy wave that knocked Percy on his feet. Only Hazel's quick thinking saved him from becoming sushi.

"Thanks" he panted before blocking another katana swipe. Hazel nodded and drew more wire out of the ground. The fight raged around them, both teams evenly matched. Lightning crackled and lit up the yard, illuminating the war waged around them. They were slowly gaining ground, until an explosion of orange and red lit up the sky like a sunset. Wally raced away to investigate, his report crackling from their earpieces seconds later. "Guys, we have a problem. I need some people over here. The foundation of the concert hall just exploded. And Wicked was in town tonight. I need civilian evac and fire management until the CCFD can get here".

Percy glanced over the yard. Top and Mirror Master, finally broken free of Piper's charmspeak, had slipped through a puddle. Weather Wizard was running away with Molecula, path obscured by mist. Nico and Clarisse made to run after them, but stopped as Percy gave instructions through the comms, "Nico, Jason, help evac civilians. Leo will take point for fire control with Annabeth and myself. The rest can work on tracking down and containing the escaped metas. Cisco, can we get a lift?"

"Sure thing". A breach opened again in front of them. Jason and Nico leapt through, with Leo not far behind. Percy struggled to get free as Baron Katana renewed his offensive in earnest, driving Percy further from the breach. "Not so fast, son of Poseidon. I need a word with you" he hissed, the slur of his words in contrast with the blur of his sword. With Hazel and Piper having to shift to Trickster and Clarisse still manically chasing after the escaping metas, Percy had no backup to slow the swordsman down. Rarely was the son of Poseidon challenged anymore in sword fights. But the Baron, well, Percy was wondering if he had wanted to be arrested in their first fight. Because the dude was _good_ , not leaving Percy any time to think about using water. But the one thing that couldn't be contained was his mouth, so he let that run as he desperately held his defense. "I can understand that. I'm a delight. But I'm curious, how do you know who I am? Are you a monster? Or a Titan? Do you get the Daily Olympus delivered across the multiverse?"

"Of course not. I _saw_ it". The Baron caught Percy's sword on his and pushed down and oh Hades he was strong. A push of that dang button threw Percy on his back, hard, the blade of Percy's mortal weapon lowered dangerously near his exposed neck as his katana trapped it. "Son of Poseidon. So much power, but not enough, never enough".

"Enough for _what_?" Percy hissed, terrified that if he more than breathed, the sword would pierce his neck.

"To stay out of trouble, of course. To get ahead. A divine hamster, caught in its wheel".

"I've tried life as a guinea pig. Wasn't fun" he whispered, pushing back in vain against the unyielding katana.

"No, I would suppose not. Not that life offers anyone a choice. But I bring great news. The revolution is coming. You don't have to be afraid anymore" the Baron's sword tip briefly caressed Percy's cheek, leaving a thin, weeping line of red directly under his eye. "For he is coming with the answer. _Upon this steel he builds his church_ ". The Baron was whispering now, face within inches of the demigod's. There was no way to miss the way the elderly man's face contorted, dazed reverence in his eyes followed by the predatory slide of his lip upwards, yellowed teeth bared in sacreligious mockery of a smile. Percy held his breath, certain that this was the end. Until suddenly the weight was gone, an arrow pierced through Baron's leg. The man didn't even cringe, just removed his sword calmly and stated, "The church is almost completed. I do hope you will remain alive until then. He wants you to be a part of a new era".

Black boots materialized next to Percy's head, then disappeared with Baron Katana in tow. He relished in breathing deeply for a moment, feeling the mud soak through his clothes and the rain wash away the lingering smell of leather and metal. He heard someone calling his name, but didn't bother responding until Frank was suddenly in his face. "Percy. _Percy!_ Are you alright?"

He nodded, blinking away the blood in his right eye. Frank offered a hand up, and Percy gratefully accepted. "Dude, you weren't moving. I was afraid I hadn't made it in time". The son of Mars was wringing his hands, looking more like the boy Percy met at Caldecott Tunnel than the praetor his was today. Percy clapped him on the shoulder, then started towards Hazel and Piper, "Sorry about that, man. Just catching my breath. Either I'm getting sloppy or that guy is the god of really heavy swords". They approached the girls, who were covered in mud and ash. "Trickster?"

"Gone". Piper kicked at a mud clod. "The teleporting chick came and picked him up right before Baron Katana". Hazel grimaced and focused on returning the precious metal underground. "Cisco took Annabeth through. We will have to catch up on foot".

"Good choice". Percy nodded, scrutinizing both of them. They were both bruised, but no other injuries. "I'm sure there is a car around here we can...borrow".

Frank grimaced. "No cars, but there is something else..."

Ten minutes later, the four plus an unconscious Clarisse pulled up to the burning concert hall on Iron Heights Prison segways. Frank shifted to dog form as Percy removed Clarisse from his handrails and laid her gently behind a fire truck. The rest of the team was making headway on the fire, the evacuated civilians being treated in a row of ambulances. A few bodies were laid out on the lawn, covered with blankets. Percy dismissed that for now and strode up to Annabeth. "Anywhere you guys need some water?"

She nodded, barely glancing at him, her golden hair covered in black soot. "North entrance is causing problems. Leo is inside stabilizing the structure. Clear that exit for him, would you?" She then turned to Piper and Hazel, barking out orders as Percy jogged away. He pulled, waiting a second as water rushed to him from the river a mile away. Sweat and rain ran into his already clouded eyes, but he patiently called as much water as was necessary before sweeping it through the burnt-out north entrance. The fire was stubborn, but Percy was more so. With a hiss and lots of smoke, the fire finally extinguished.

Percy hesitated, then started up the stairs until he came to the concession stand. From there, he could descend into the utility rooms under the concert hall. Every once in a while a small pocket of flames would appear, small enough to have evaded his first efforts. Water bottles scavenged from the concession stand took care of those quickly. The stairs continued until he reached the generators, where Leo was shifting machinery and propping up the structural columns while surrounded by flames. His curly hair was black with ash but otherwise he was undeterred by the heat of the fire. Perks of being a Hephaestus kid and all that. Acknowledging Percy's unworded question, Leo nodded and Percy suffocated the fire with water. Leo waved his hand as he grew closer, "Hey man. I've got this, you can move on".

"Everything else is under control. You know Annabeth, she has us working like a well-oiled machine". Percy nonchalantly shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "Out of the others, I'm the best suited to heated situations. So let me do the grunt work and you can focus on the brains behind the clean-up". Leo nodded, a cheesy smirk lighting up his face as he turned to survey the damage. "Right. I like the idea of a grunt. Okay my loyal minion, focus on moving all this junk out from around these damaged columns. I'll focus on welding them back together".

"I'm not a minion" Percy muttered under his breath, gripping the corner of a water heater and shifting it to the side. They worked in tandem, Percy moving complicated-looking equipment and Leo making adjustments to the structural support columns. Finally, the son of Hephaestus nodded with satisfaction and gestured for the two to exit. When they arrived outside, Annabeth was directing an ambulance to a cluster of injured citizens while the rest of the group was rehydrating on the grass. Annabeth jogged over, grabbing a waterbottle from Piper, and plopped down on the grass. "All the injured are being treated. CCPD has this under control now". She paused to guzzle more water. "Did you get any of the prisoners?"

Frank mournfully shook his head. "No, we barely made it here. Their teleporter was causing issues".

"That's not exactly true". Nico hesitantly stated, directing their focus to Clarisse's resting place behind a firetruck. Next to her, Mirror Master was hogtied and gagged. "I caught him a couple blocks down the street. Mirror jumping is no match for shadow travel". The son of Hades looked smug, like he just stole Happy Meals from children. Jason gave him a high five as Will squeezed his boyfriend's shoulder in appreciation.

Annabeth nodded slowly. "This was planned. They chose to escape during the concert and planned the distraction. Like they knew we would all come".

"That's because they did". Percy waved Will away as he healed his cut with water. "Baron Super Sword told me so".

"The game is afoot" Cisco whispered, eyes showing equal parts dread and excitement. At the rest of the group's tired and confused glances, he clarified. "We knew someone was coming. Savitar told us Barry's greatest foes. One we hadn't heard of before: DeVoe. With Barry getting back from the speed force, it makes sense he would make his move now. While Team Flash is recovering".

"But you have a lot of backup. Isn't that a horrible idea?" Piper had a valid point. Team Flash was one thing. Team Flash plus the Heroes of Olympus was another.

Personally, Percy thought that if Baron Katana was this DeVoe character, a horrible idea like this was right up his alley. Of course he also thought the man was easily defeated. Which turned out to be 100% wrong.

"Unless we were the plan". Annabeth's thinking face was outshone by fierce competitiveness. Percy knew that look from chariot races and gingerbread house building. "He's playing us. Setting the chess board. And I don't think all the pieces have been unveiled yet".

Cisco nodded has he hung up with Caitlin. "Joe found something at the prison. Katana cut it into the floor with a screw. It's a prophecy. The full prophecy. And I don't think you're going to like it".

Percy shrugged. What else was new? He never liked prophecies on principle, but most prophecies were awful. Not in the 'Jason ate the last slice of pizza' way, but in the 'fire and brimstone and death' way.

Annabeth nodded, looking over the picture Caitlin sent. "As far as prophecies go, it's pretty typical". Ignoring Cisco's look of disbelief, she gestured at one of the lines. "And I think it just started. _Half dozen gone, then starts the search._ Seven prisoners broke out of Iron Heights, but only six escaped. They are the half dozen". She turned to Cisco, "Welcome to the world of demigods". The team shifted away, discussing the prophecy around the picture. Only Percy could hear his girlfriend breathe, "Shall we play a game, Mr. DeVoe?"


	9. Then Starts the Search

**Hey guys! So, I'm alive.** **Surprise!**

 **Really though, I'm sorry for the excessive wait. Almost 5 months!**

 **Anyways, here's the next chapter. I don't really have an update schedule yet, but rest assured, they will be quicker than 5 months. I have the same outline I've been working on since, gosh, September, so I won't abandon this story even if the updates are slow. Just a reminder, this story has spoilers for seasons 1-3 of the Flash and all the Heroes of Olympus/Percy Jackson novels. I have only seen one or two episodes of season 4 of the Flash, so as always, this story exists independent of that.**

 **Special thanks to all who have favorited, followed, or reviewed this story. And, an extra special thanks for your patience with my updates. Enjoy!**

* * *

Earth-1 was ridiculous.

First, there was the name "Earth-1". Like this earth was somehow better and more original than the others. The Leo-look-alike, Cisco, said something about it literally being the first earth and some sciencey stuff about the multiverse, but Nico didn't care. It was still egotistical.

There was also no McDonalds. Really? Almost everywhere on earth had McDonalds. Happy Meals were the constant of Nico's life. When he accidently shadow-traveled to China, Happy Meals were there for him. Need to summon spirits of the dead? Happy Meal. How was he supposed to summon the dead without McDonalds? The people of Earth-1 clearly had inferior taste. Instead they had something called Big Belly Burger. Nico was unimpressed.

However, the worst thing was Team Flash. Yeah, they were nice and saved the world and all that jazz, but they clearly didn't know how to best allocate their resources. Percy was running himself ragged fighting metahumans with the yellow kid. Will was holed away with Caitlin prepping the medical wing. Annabeth and Hazel were pouring over plans and books and maps. That left Nico to deal with Clarisse and Jason and Piper. Four incredibly talented demigods who were just sitting around, eating their food and pushing each other's buttons. Nico might be a good mediator, but at some point he got so bored he wanted them to fight. His friends were more entertaining than cable.

And then, lo and behold, these imbeciles couldn't even keep their villains in jail. The whole motley crew staged an escape and…well, honestly, that was the most fun part of this whole multiverse expedition. He got to chase that teleporter around and almost had her until they blew up a concert hall. That was significantly less fun. Nico could feel souls slipping away into whatever afterlife was present on this earth as the building burned. He tried to shadow travel to save more people, only to be grounded by Will for exhaustion. Nico was having none of that. His boyfriend such a hypocrite; Will hadn't slept more than four hours a night the entire time they had been here. Plus, the son of Apollo was not his mother. But he still didn't want to directly face an angry Will. So he shadow traveled back to the prison, following the tracks until he came to a mirrored surface. Nico had grinned. Two could play at this game. After discovering he could shadow travel to the next jump point, it was relatively easy to catch the man called Mirror Master. Of course he was a bit disappointed that his companion wasn't with him, but one was better than nothing.

Currently, they were back in Team Flash's lair ( _it's a base, Nico_ whatever Cisco it's a lair) around that dang white board again. Contrary to popular belief, Nico was extremely analytical. He liked plans and gathering information almost as much as the children of Athena. But there came a point in time when planning was moot and action was necessary. Heck, that was one of the arguments he had used to get his father into the Second Titan War. Most of the demigods agreed with him (except for Annabeth; the girl was more stubborn than Hades). ADHD and incessant planning didn't mesh well.

"Annabeth, please. The prophecy will make more sense once things start happening. Let's just go back to the prison, look around…"

"No good". The icy one, Caitlin, shook her head. "The CCPD has already been through there. Anything they found Joe has made available to us and any evidence not found by them is marred by their investigation and traffic after the fact".

"Come on, blondie. These meta-whatevers have already robbed two banks, assaulted a police officer, and tried to bomb a train in two days. I want to punch someone!" Clarisse was almost snarling, ADHD and barely controlled rage released by loud stomping and pacing.

"We need to find the pattern. I agree with Annabeth. Let's look at this for one more day. If nothing turns up, then we go and crack some heads". Barry was still sitting on the hospital bed, Will checking his vitals. The IVs and most of the medical equipment had been removed. Though the meta was pale, he was almost completely recovered according to Caitlin and Will.

"These people are tricky. This whole thing has been staged. Baron Katana _wanted_ to be captured. We can't run off half-cocked to bring them in. They'll be expecting that". The blonde then turned back to her white board, "It seems sporadic, but it's not. Each of these crimes was in one corner of the city. They could be working their way inwards, or they could be gathering funds for some project. There has to be _something_ I'm missing".

"Alright, if they were gathering funds for something, why not just steal the thing they're after?" Cisco questioned, looking up momentarily from his computer, a ring pop on his left hand.

" _Upon this steel vision builds his church_ " Annabeth muttered, "They have to be building something. It's the only thing that makes sense. But is it actually steel? One of the bank robberies was near a steel mill. Or is it metaphorical, as in something really strong and unmovable?"

"They have someone who can literally manipulate molecules, I don't think anything is really unmovable for them". Nico wasn't sure about much, but he definitely knew their conversations were going nowhere. "I'm going for Big Belly Burger. Anyone want some?"

Annabeth and Caitlin rolled their eyes simultaneously, while Percy perked up at the mention of food. Gods, that guy had an endless stomach. Though it might come in handy right about now. "Percy, you want to come with?"

"Hades yes". The son of Poseidon was up and moving in an instant. "We'll pick up a meal for everyone".

They left through the main elevator, Percy bouncing up and down like a small child. The elevator dinged when the reached the main level. Nico took one step through the door, turned around to start telling Percy about his plans as he…fell on his butt. He glared up at the person responsible. "Clarisse".

"Death-breath". The daughter of Ares was brandishing the makeshift metal spear Cisco had provided.

"You mind moving?" Nico asked when the girl didn't move from the elevator door.

"Cut the crap. You hate Big Belly Burger. Always wining about McDonalds. Whatever you're really doing, I want in".

Nico was slightly surprised. Of everyone he thought would pick up on that, Clarisse was pretty far down the list. Of course she was also bored out of her mind, so maybe he should have seen this coming.

"Be my guest".

"You mean we aren't getting food?" Nico started a bit, having forgot about the son of Poseidon momentarily.

"No, Percy. Look, Annabeth is my friend, but sometimes she fails to see the bigger picture. She is obsessed with figuring out their plan, cutting them off before they get started. Which is fine except that they are already started. It makes more sense to leave her to work out their plans and have us hit the streets".

Percy thought for a moment. "Can't say I disagree. Though if I said so, she'd disembowel me. What's the plan, chief?"

Nico rolled his eyes, but answered, "The prison yard. The evidence may all be packed away, but I can track Mirror Master's movements through reflective surfaces. I'm wondering if I can do the same thing with their teleporter, Peek a Boo or whatever ridiculous name Cisco gave her".

Nico ignored Percy's muttered, "I kinda like it" behind him, focusing on Clarisse instead. "If we can track her movements, even as far as wherever she took them directly after the prison break, we could get a lead. Or find them and punch them in the face".

"Anything's better than just sitting around" Clarisse muttered.

Nico turned to Percy, who appeared thoughtful (will wonders never cease?!). "Nico, I don't know about this. It's a good plan, for sure. But what if we go to their lair and they're all there. Wally and I could barely hold them off before you guys arrived. I'm not sure the three of us could hold of six heavily armed metas on their home turf".

Nico sighed. "That's a possibility, yeah. But if I were them, I would teleport to a secondary location first to regroup, then teleport from there to their base. Especially because she had to come back multiple times".

Percy nodded. "Fine. I'm down with that plan on one condition: we get Big Belly Burger after".

* * *

It was strangely comfortable, going on a side quest with Percy and Clarisse. Nico expected fighting and grumbling, particularly because he was under the impression Clarisse hated Percy, and vis-versa. But either they had both matured into adults (unlikely) or they had buried the hatchet sometime when Nico wasn't looking. He suspected perhaps after the whole "Percy gets kidnapped and disappears for six months" fiasco. They weren't best friends by any means, but here they were ribbing each other and joking. Clarisse almost seemed fiercely protective of both of them (which now that Nico thought about it, she was secretly protective of most of Camp Half Blood). Nico was glad for that. He definitely didn't have _feelings_ for the son of Poseidon anymore, but he considered him a close friend. And holy Olympus, that demigod was a danger magnet. Yeah, he was a great fighter. But the dude had the worst luck ever. An extra set of eyes never hurt.

Nico was currently crouching in the prison yard, searching this earth's version of the shadow-world for traces of the teleporter. Nico wasn't sure if it was something with this Earth or his deathly powers, but this girl left a hot rod red trail wherever she went. Nico grabbed his companions, ignoring their token complaints, and jumped from one point to the next, following the girl's tracks until her movements brought them to an abandoned warehouse. Next to him, Clarisse was rubbing her head and Percy was clearing his eyes.

"Man, what is it with villains and warehouses?" The son of Poseidon's eyes scanned the area at his bequest, but came up with nothing. Nico thought no one was there, but an extra set of eyes never hurt. His head was pounding and his mouth was definitely full of cotton. He felt himself swaying, steadied by Clarisse on his left. Percy looked at him with concern, "Dude, if you faint or get sick or die, Will is going to kill us. Actually, I think either way he's going to kill you".

Ouch. Will. Outwardly, Nico shrugged, "I can handle Will". His companions looks of disbelief and doubt echoed his true thoughts. Will was going to be _pissed._ Nothing he could do about that now though. "Come on guys, let's look around".

The demigods needed no further prompting, anxious to get moving and _do something_. They quickly and efficiently cased the building, looking for personal effects or remnants of their plans or anything. All they found were six prison uniforms and a bottle of bleach.

"I guess they cleaned out the whole place. Like they knew someone would be here eventually". Clarisse prodded at the container with her metallic spear, clearly disgruntled.

Nico just shrugged, "It's a logical assumption. This warehouse isn't that far from the prison yard or the concert hall. The police sweep will get here at some point".

"They must have had clothes waiting for them here" Percy muttered. "I mean, we knew this was planned, but this must have been weeks in advance".

Nico nodded in agreement, "The prison break itself, the bombs under the concert hall, the clothes and bleach waiting here. They had to have someone on the outside coordinating this. Which we already knew, but this person was smart. They knew exactly where to teleport to in order to avoid notice, but someplace that would get noticed eventually".

Clarisse shrugged, "Could be smart, could not be. One of the goons could have a stooge that just follows instructions really well".

"As Annabeth said, the way the bombs were arranged speaks of someone with structural engineering or construction experience. That narrows our field, and none of the escaped metas fit that profile". Nico knew this prison break had to include multiple outside men to go off without a hitch. "We should report back to Annabeth and the rest".

"Um, question? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of sneaking out in the first place?" Percy was raising his hand like he was in class, face scrunched up in his confused expression.

Nico sighed. "Yeah, you're right. We didn't find anything very interesting anyways. If it comes up, we can offer the information. There is a Big Belly Burger close to the prison after all, we can say we got…sidetracked".

Clarisse picked at her nails with the spear tip, clearly unenthused by the conversation. "I was expecting some action. You know, I thought for sure we would get into some trouble".

"Don't say that" Percy groaned. "Don't ever say that".

"Why not, plankton breath?" Clarisse jeered just the wall exploded next to her head. Nico tucked and rolled as Clarisse dove to safety, spear at the ready. Percy sputtered next to him, Riptide snicking open.

"That's why! You never tempt the Fates!"

Nico had to admit that sounded like a sound strategy. But they had more important things to worry about right now. "Where are they?"

The daughter of Ares grunted, piercing eyes roaming the area, "I don't see anyone. Could have been planted in advance. This whole blasted thing seems to be planned in advance".

Percy nodded, "I agree. There isn't anyone here right now, or we would be dodging a lot more than one stray bomb".

"Doesn't mean there isn't anyone coming" Nico muttered, his senses (no Leo, not a death sense, and definitely his _Spidey sense_ ) on high alert. "And they just blew a really nice entrance into the warehouse".

"Something wicked this way comes" Percy muttered, gripping Riptide until his knuckles were more white than tan. When Nico and Clarisse looked at him sideways, his face contorted into something Nico assumed was hurt, "What, I read! Or, I listen to Annabeth read".

Nico rolled his eyes fondly and pulled out his stygian iron sword. Moments later, the three empousas crossed the threshold into the warehouse, fangs bared and claws extended. Nico growled in response, singling out the middle one as his prey. He danced nimbly away from her claws and ducked her extended fangs. His sword sang toward her neck, but it was blocked by the monster's two claws. Her fangs contorted into a monstrous smile as she stared him down. Well, that was her mistake. Nico never lost a staring contest.

Behind him, he could hear one of the empousas shriek as Clarisse's electric spear grazed her side. Percy was quickly dodging the last one, poised to cut the monster down in three moves. He heard the familiar clatter of harpies, their feet clicking on the concrete and wings brushing together. These harpies would be more the "demonic curfew patrol" they saw at Camp Half Blood and less the "Tyson's girlfriend" variety. Time to move on.

Nico shifted, his sword gaining a bit of wiggle room before kicking at the monster's knees. As she stumbled back, Nico used every bit of leverage to recover his sword and slice through her neck. With a wail, the monster disappeared in a pile of dust. Good riddance.

The harpies shrieked, excited about the possibility of a demigod meal. Clarisse electrocuted the last empousa, sneezing as it turned to dust. Percy was already brushing empousa remains off Riptide and glaring at the harpies. The chicken-demons hesitated for a moment, clearly recognizing their prey was well trained. But in the end, they apparently didn't care. Clarisse launched herself off an overturned metal desk, war cry loosed as she impaled one of the harpies. Nico and Percy took her flanks, turning harpy after harpy to dust. It wasn't a particularly difficult battle, just enough to make the son of Hades sweat. His sword sang in time with Percy's, an electrical jab followed by an inhuman shriek punctuating their harmony with a staccato melody. It felt great, after days of inactivity, to return to something as simple as turning monsters to dust.

As the last of the harpies fell to their assault, the three demigods hummed, eyes scanning the area for monsters or metahumans. When nothing came, they allowed themselves to relax, Percy leaning over to put his hands on his knees. Clarisse sat crosslegged on the ground in a pile of monster dust, looking over her spear. Nico shrugged off his jacket and used the lining to clear the dust and sweat off his face. Percy and Clarisse did the same, cleaning their weapons in suit and generally trying to hide the evidence of a battle. The trio then stepped onto the abandoned street, heading for Big Belly Burger.

"Well that was fun" Clarisse stated. She didn't even sound sarcastic, eyes lit up like it was Christmas, or the WWE championship or whatever.

"I think the real question here is, where those monsters sent? Or did the explosion draw them in?" Nico turned the corner and the three instantly blended in with the crowd. "They looked…hungry. It could have been planned so that the explosion would draw them in".

"Guys?" Percy asked, voice hesitant and wary. That tone had Nico automatically swiveling around, searching for threats. Percy just shook his head and whispered, "There aren't any monsters on Earth-1".

"What? Then what the Hades were those, Jackson?" Clarisse hissed, her eyebrows furrowed.

"When I was here before, all the monsters that appeared were brought over by Zoom. From our Earth. This Earth didn't have any monsters".

Nico drew in a sharp breath, looking at the son of Poseidon, "So where were those monsters from?"

Percy shook his head, unconsciously gnawing at his lower lip. "They didn't get through when we did. We would have noticed that. So either these metas can make portals and know a lot more about us than we thought, or we broke something by coming here again".

"Broke what?"

"Either whatever form of the Mist exists here, or…" Percy trailed off.

"Or we broke the barriers between Earths" Clarisse finished, glancing at the two of them.

Nico huffed, lips pressed into a thin line, "Well, crap".


End file.
